Protein discovery, design, and mechanistic analysis of Cry3Bb1

AGRO 96

Leigh English, Leigh.English@Monsanto.com, Kara S. Giddings, Kara.S.Giddings@Monsanto.com, and Jeffrey W. Seale, Jeffrey.W.Seale@Monsanto.com. Biotechnology, Monsanto Company, 700 Chesterfield Parkway, Chesterfield, MO 63017
Monsanto's rootworm-controlled corn products provide effective plant protection against principal components of the rootworm pest complex with additional crop performance resulting from the protection of root structure. The creation of the biotechnology products expressing the protein Cry3Bb1 required enormous and specialized understanding at each and every step along the way making it difficult to thoroughly discuss the entire product development history. Instead the focus of this presentation is on the history of the original protein discovery, the rationale for the protein design, and the mechanistic analysis used to create this novel biologically-active protein. More recent advances to uncover the structural requirements for insecticidal activity will also be discussed.