The brush border membrane vesicles (BBMVs) in midgut of Helicoverpa armigera weresuccessfully separated, and most of the Aminopeptidase N (APN) activities in BBMV werepreserved. The 3-[(3-chlor-amidopropyl) dimethylammonio]-1-propane-sulphonate (CHAPS)can enhance the dissolution of BBMV, and phosphatidylinositol-specific phosopholipase C(PI-PLC) can cleave the APN from midgut membrane. The APN was primarily purified usinga Mono-Q column. The results of immunoblotting showed that the 120 and 170kDa proteinsin the BBMV could bind Cry1Ac, and 120kDa APN was a glycosylphosphalidylinositol(GPI)-anchored protein. Two Bt-resistant strains (Bt-P, Bt-M) were obtained after beingselected for more than five years in laboratory using Bt insecticides and Bt transgeniccotton incorporated into diet separately. The resistance of Bt-P and Bt-M were 1083.3and 48.7 times that of susceptible strain. The genes encoding APN1 in midgut ofsusceptible and resistant H.armigera were cloned by PCR and RACE techniques. Theinferred amino acid sequences of APN1 possessed the common character of APN family ininsects. In comparison with APN1 in susceptible strain, three nucleotide mutations wereobserved in the APN1 of Bt-M strain and resulted in two amino acid replace in theputative protein sequences, and eight nucleotide mutations were observed in Bt-P strainand resulted in five amino acid replace.
The aim of this article is to successfully express the Bt （Bacillus thuringiensis） toxin receptor protein located on the internal membrane of larval midgut of cotton bollworm （Helicoverpa armigera Hübner） within eukaryotic expression system, which is one of the key links for clarifying the relationship between receptor and Bt resistance. The fragments of aminopeptidase N1 （APN1） gene without signal peptide in the susceptible and the resistant H. armigera were cloned separately using PCR method, and were separately cloned into pUC 19 vector. After sequencing the gene, the fragments encoding for APN1 without signal peptide were cloned into the Bac-to-Bac baculovirus expression system with transfer vector pFastBacHTB under the polyhedron gene promoter. The recombinant transposing plasmid pFastBacHTB/APN1 was screened and then transformed into Escherichia coli DH10Bac. It was cultured in LB medium, which contained Te, Kan, Ge, X-gal, and IPTG. The resulting recombinant bacmid was transfected into cells of the insect Trichoplusia ni and recombinant baculoviruse was obtained. The lysate of cells infected with recombinant baculoviruse was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and blot analysis. The results showed that the recombinant baculoviruse was fully capable of expressing APN1. The APN1 gene successfully expressed in T. ni cell established the base for continuing the research on its function and relationshio of resistance with Bt.
