Aminopeptidase N from Bombyx mori as a candidate for the receptor of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Aa toxin

Cry1Aa toxin-binding proteins from the midgut brush border membrane vesicles of Bombyx mori, a toxin-susceptible silkworm, were analyzed to find candidates for the toxin receptors. Ligand blotting showed that Cry1Aa toxin bound to a 120-kDa protein. A part of the 120-kDa protein was solubilized from the membrane vesicles with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C, resulting in a 110-kDa protein which therefore may be linked to a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor. The 120-kDa and 110-kDa Cry1Aa toxin-binding proteins were solubilized with detergent or pohosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C, respectively, and purified using anion-exchange chromatography. Scatchard plot analysis for the specific binding of purified 110-kDa protein to Cry1Aa toxin yielded a K-d value of 7.6 nM, which was similar to that for the binding of intact brush border membrane vesicles to the toxin. N-terminal and internal amino acid sequences of the 120-kDa and 110-kDa proteins showed high degrees of similarity to those of aminopeptidase N, a putative Cry1Ac toxin receptor, reported in Manduca sexta and Heliothis virescens. On this basis, the 120-kDa Cry1Aa toxin-binding protein from B. mori was identified as a member of the aminopeptidase family.