Expression of the Bacillus thuringiensis mosquitocidal toxin Cry11Aa in the aquatic bacterium Asticcacaulis excentricus

A mosquitocidal aquatic bacterium has been developed by introducing an operon containing the cry11Aa, and p20 genes from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti) into the gram-negative aquatic bacterium Asticcacaulis excentricus. After transformation, the cry11Aa gene was successfully expressed in recombinant A. excentricus under the tac promoter, at the level of 0.04 pg/cell. The recombinant bacteria were toxic to Aedes aegypti larvae with an LC50 of 6.83 x 10(5) cells/mL. We believe that these bacteria may have potential as genetically engineered microorganisms for the control of mosquito larvae.