Cloning and Molecular Characterization of cry1Ca and cry1Cb Genes from Locally Isolated Bacillus thuringiensis Strains

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is endospore former, Gram positive bacterium and makes parasporal crystals (Cry proteins), which kill particular target pests of different crops. Bt isolated from different localities of Pakistan were screened for cry1Ca and cry1Cb domain III genes by polymerase chain reaction. Among all the screened Bt strains, Eve were positive for cry1C domain III gene, 3 of which were positive for cry1Ca and 2 for cry1Cb. Confirmation was done by colony PCR, restriction analysis, nucleotide sequencing and alignment on BLAST. The complete gene (3.6kb) encoding cry1Ca endotoxin of one of the Bt isolate (MS-SBS Bt1) was amplified and analyzed for the nucleotide sequence. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of endotoxin gene was compared with that of Bt strains available in the literature. The genes amplified from the positive strains had 99% similarity and had 100% same deduced amino acid with that of Bt strains reported in the Gene Bank. Full gene sequence was submitted in Gene Bank.