Fabrick, JeffOppert, ChrisLorenzen, Marce D.Morris, KaleyOppert, BrendaJurat-Fuentes, Juan Luis2009-11-202009-11-202009-11-20http://hdl.handle.net/2097/2180Citation: Fabrick, J., & Oppert, C. (2009). A Novel Tenebrio molitor Cadherin Is a Functional Receptor for Bacillus thuringiensis Cry3Aa Toxin. 284(27), 18401-18410. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M109.001651Cry toxins produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are effective biological insecticides. Cadherin-like proteins have been reported as functional Cry1A toxin receptors in Lepidoptera. Here we present data that demonstrate a coleopteran cadherin is a functional Cry3Aa toxin receptor. The Cry3Aa receptor cadherin was cloned from Tenebrio molitor larval midgut mRNA, and the predicted protein, TmCad1, has domain structure and a putative toxin binding region similar to those in lepidopteran cadherin Bt receptors. A peptide containing the putative toxin binding region from TmCad1 (rTmCad1p) bound specifically to Cry3Aa and promoted the formation of Cry3Aa toxin oligomers, proposed to be mediators of toxicity in lepidopterans. Injection of TmCad1-specific dsRNA into T. molitor larvae resulted in knockdown of TmCad1 transcript and conferred resistance to Cry3Aa toxicity. These data demonstrate the functional role of TmCad1 as a Cry3Aa receptor in T. molitor and reveal similarities between the mode of action of Cry toxins in Lepidoptera and Coleoptera.This research was originally published in Fabrick, J., Oppert, C., Lorenzen, M. D., Oppert, B. and Jurat-Fuentes, J.L. 2009. A novel Tenebrio molitor cadherin is a functional receptor for Bacillus thuringiensis toxin Cry3Aa. J. Biol. Chem., 284:18401-18410. © The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).Bacillus thuringiensisCry3AaColeopteraTenebrio molitorToxin mode of actionInsect cadherinText