A Translation Fusion Product of Two Different Insecticidal Crystal Protein Genes of Bacillus thuringiensis Exhibits an Enlarged Insecticidal Spectrum

Two truncated Bacillus thuringiensis crystal protein genes, belonging to the classes cryIA(b) and cryIC and both coding for insecticidal N-terminal fragments of the corresponding crystal proteins, were translationally fused. Expression of the gene fusion in Escherichia coli showed a biologically active protein with a toxicity spectrum that overlapped those of both contributing crystal proteins.