Bacillus thuringiensis recombinant insecticidal protein production

Abstract

The initial excitement of applying recombinant DNA technology to insecticidal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis was subdued by regulatory caution about the technology and the genetic complexity of the proteins themselves. While seven biopesticide products containing recombinant proteins were eventually manufactured, expression of the proteins in Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria is predominantly for discovery and mode of action work. Regulatory studies for the registration of transgenic plants requires microbially produced insecticidal proteins in the tens of grams. Transgenic plants now dominate the production of B. Thuringiensis recombinant insecticidal proteins, with expression technology yielding more than 10-fold higher levels than the earliest registered plants and worldwide use on nearly 60 million hectares.