Abstract
The combined analysis of genomic and proteomic data allowed us to determine which cry and vip genes are present in a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) isolate and which ones are being expressed. Nine Bt isolates were selected from Spanish collections of Bt based on their vip1 and vip2 gene content. As a first step, nine isolates were analyzed by PCR to select those Bt isolates that contained genes with the lowest similarity to already described vip1 and vip2 genes (isolates E-SE10.2 and O-V84.2). Two selected isolates were subjected to a combined genomic and proteomic analysis. The results showed that the Bt isolate E-SE10.2 codifies for two new vegetative proteins, Vip2Ac-like_1 and Sip1Aa-like_1, that do not show expression differences at 24 h vs. 48 h and are expressed in a low amount. The Bt isolate O-V84.2 codifies for three new vegetative proteins, Vip4Aa-like_1, Vip4Aa-like_2, and Vip2Ac-like_2, that are marginally expressed. The Vip4Aa-like_1 protein was two-fold more abundant at 24 h vs. 48 h, while the Vip4Aa-like_2 was detected only at 24 h. For Vip2Ac-like_2, no differences in expression were found at 24 h vs. 48 h. Moreover, the parasporal crystal of the E-SE10.2 isolate contains a single type of crystal protein, Cry23Aa-like, while the parasporal crystal from O-V84.2 contains three kinds of crystal proteins: 7.0⁻9.8% weight of Cry45Aa-like proteins, 35⁻37% weight of Cry32-like proteins and 2.8⁻4.3% weight of Cry73-like protein.