Cry78Ba1, One Novel Crystal Protein from Bacillus thuringiensis with High Insecticidal Activity against Rice Planthopper

The rice planthopper is a very important hemipteran pest that preys on rice and substantially affects the safety of rice production. Moreover, the long-term prevention and control of these pests with chemical pesticides has led to an increase in the resistance of the rice planthopper as well as serious environmental pollution and food safety problems. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been used for the efficient and green control of a variety of rice pests. Therefore, based on the high-throughput screening of Bt strains that are active against the rice planthopper, we found that Bt strain B4F11 showed certain insecticidal activity against Laodelphax striatellus Fallen, and we have identified a novel insecticidal protein Cry78Ba1 from the Bt strain B4F11, which is expected to provide the specific and safe control of the rice planthopper. The Cry78Ba1 protein is composed of 380 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 42.55 kDa and contains conserved Ricin_B_Lectin and Toxin_10 superfamily domains. It d...