@misc{10481/64671,
year = {2020},
month = {9},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10481/64671},
abstract = {3D-Cry toxins, produced by the entomopathogenic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis,
have been extensively mutated in order to elucidate their elegant and complex mechanism of
action necessary to kill susceptible insects. Together with the study of the resistant insects, 3D-Cry
toxin mutants represent one of the pillars to understanding how these toxins exert their activity
on their host. The principle is simple, if an amino acid is involved and essential in the mechanism
of action, when substituted, the activity of the toxin will be diminished. However, some of the
constructed 3D-Cry toxin mutants have shown an enhanced activity against their target insects
compared to the parental toxins, suggesting that it is possible to produce novel versions of the natural
toxins with an improved performance in the laboratory. In this report, all mutants with an enhanced
activity obtained by accident in mutagenesis studies, together with all the variants obtained by
rational design or by directed mutagenesis, were compiled. A description of the improved mutants
was made considering their historical context and the parallel development of the protein engineering
techniques that have been used to obtain them. This report demonstrates that artificial 3D-Cry toxins
made in laboratories are a real alternative to natural toxins.},
organization = {Andalusian Operative Program 	
B-BIO-081-UGR18},
publisher = {Mdpi},
keywords = {3D-Cry toxins},
keywords = {In vitro evolution},
keywords = {Rational design},
keywords = {Bacillus thuringiensis},
keywords = {Toxin enhancement},
title = {Making 3D-Cry Toxin Mutants: Much More Than a Tool of Understanding Toxins Mechanism of Action},
doi = {10.3390/toxins12090600},
author = {Vílchez Tornero, Susana},
}