Find in Library

Vegetative insecticidal proteins (Vips), which are secreted by some <i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i> strains during vegetative growth, exhibit high virulence to many pests. Vip3A proteins have been used commercially both in some bio-insecticides and in transgenic crops; however, compared with insecticidal crystal proteins, the mechanism of action of Vip3A is still unclear. In this work, we indicated that the fibroblast growth factor receptor-like protein (Sf-FGFR) from the membrane of Sf9 cells could bind to Vip3Aa. The interaction between Vip3Aa and Sf-FGFR was confirmed by pull-down assays and dot blotting experiment in vitro. The binding affinity between Vip3Aa and extracellular regions of Sf-FGFR (GST-FGFR-N) was determined by microscale thermophoresis assay (MST). Moreover, Vip3Aa-Flag could be co-immunoprecipitated with Sf-FGFR-V5 ex vivo. Furthermore, knockdown of <i>Sf-FGFR</i> gene in Sf9 cells resulted in reducing the mortality of those cells to Vip3Aa. In summary, our data indicated that Sf-FGFR is a novel receptor for Vip3Aa.