title: Structural insights into Bacillus thuringiensis Cry, Cyt and parasporin toxins.
abstract: Since the first X-ray structure of Cry3Aa was revealed in 1991, numerous structures of B. thuringiensis toxins have been determined and published. In recent years, functional studies on the mode of action and resistance mechanism have been proposed, which notably promoted the developments of biological insecticides and insect-resistant transgenic crops. With the exploration of known pore-forming toxins (PFTs) structures, similarities between PFTs and B. thuringiensis toxins have provided great insights into receptor binding interactions and conformational changes from water-soluble to membrane pore-forming state of B. thuringiensis toxins. This review mainly focuses on the latest discoveries of the toxin working mechanism, with the emphasis on structural related progress. Based on the structural features, B. thuringiensis Cry, Cyt and parasporin toxins could be divided into three categories: three-domain type α-PFTs, Cyt toxin type β-PFTs and aerolysin type β-PFTs. Structures from each group are elucidated and discussed in relation to the latest data, respectively.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. wang@bcl1.bmb.uga.edu.
authors.forename: Chengchen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. wang@bcl1.bmb.uga.edu.
authors.forename: Bi-Cheng
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. yz41@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ziniu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. m98sun@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis; D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004731:Endotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; C030956:insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis; C412914:parasporin