Bacillus thuringiensis is one of the most widely used bioinsecticides, and cry gene is the major insecticidal gene. Because Cry1Ac protein shows strong toxicity against many lepidopteran species, it has been applied widely in spraying products and transgenic Bt-crops. The preparation of Cry protoxin is the first step in the very important processes of understanding the insecticidal mechanism, resistance screening, and biosafety assessments. The media for crystal production and the method for Cry protoxin preparation were varied, however, it was not clear which was better for preparing a larger amount of Cry protoxin. In this paper, three media for crystal production and the method for Cry1Ac protoxin preparation from HD73 strain were compared to find an efficacious way to prepare a large number of Cry1Ac protoxin. The results showed that the 1/2 LB (Luria-Bertani) medium was the ideal medium for crystal production, because the total yield of Cry1Ac protoxin in 300 mL 1/2 LB medium was (112.38±5.64) mg, the highest one among three media; the repeated crystal solubilization method was better for the preparation of the Cry protoxin comparing with the continuous crystal solubilization method. It will be a reference for other Cry protoxin preparation, especially for larger number.

The novel cry1Ai gene that cloned from Bacillus thuringiensis strain SC6H8 encoded a protein exhibiting strong toxicity against Plutella xylostella and Chilo suppressalis in our previous study. Using the available information for the active fragments of other Cry toxins, eight truncated fragments were constructed to identify the minimal active fragment of Cry1Ai. All truncated fragments were expressed in Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3), and the insecticidal activity against 2nd- instar P. xylostella larvae was assessed using full-length Cry1Ai as a positive control. The results indicate that the minimal active fragment of the Cry1Ai toxin against P. xylostella is located between amino acid residues 36I and 605I, which is smaller than the regions previously reported for Cry1A. The first two amino acids (34T and 35P) on helix α-1 and whole helix α-2 of domain I and sheet β-32 of domain III are necessary for Cry1Ai toxin to keep its toxicity against P. xylostella.