Beauveria bassiana is a biocontrol agent which shows entomopathogenecity on insect pests especially the Lepidopterons invading the agriculturally important crops. The mode of infection is through the cuticle by degrading the chitin present on it which is enabled by the exochitinase enzyme of Bbchit1 gene. A good quality genomic DNA was isolated from Beauveria bassiana NCIM 1216 and amplified with specific primers to isolate the gene corresponding to Bbchit1 which codes for the exochitinase enzyme that is responsible for pathogenesis. The Bbchit1 gene of B. bassiana was transformed with the binary plasmid pBANF-bar-pAN-Bbchit1, in which the Bbchit1 gene was placed downstream of the constitutive gpd promoter, which was mediated by A. tumefaciens, and transformants were selected on the basis of herbicide resistance. Fifty herbicide resistant colonies were obtained and analyzed. The exochitinase produced by these transformants was observed maximum on the 7th day of inoculation in both which was 0.09 μmol/ml/min for the purified fraction and 0.06 μmol/ml/min for the crude extract. The chitinolytic activity was observed maximum at pH 5 and at temperature of 40°C. The genetically modified pure form can be used in the production of transgenic plants and in bringing out commercial formulation for the control of Lepidopteran pests.
Keywords: Bbchit1; Beauveria bassiana; Exochitinase.