Green algae (Chlorella pyrenoidosa) adsorbs Bacillus thurigiensis (Bt) toxin, Cry1Ca insecticidal protein, without an effect on growth

• We evaluated the effect of Cry1Ca protein on unicellular microalgae.
• The effect on algal growth was assessed over three generations.
• Cry1Ca had no adverse effect on the growth of microalgae.
• Cry1Ca can be adsorbed and degraded by microalgae in the water.

The effect of purified Cry1Ca insecticidal protein on the growth of Chlorella pyrenoidosa was studied in a three-generation toxicity test. The C. pyrenoidosa medium with a density of 5.4×105 cells/mL was subcultured for three generations with added Cry1Ca at 0, 10, 100, and 1000 µg/L, and cell numbers were determined daily. To explore the distribution of Cry1Ca in C. pyrenoidosa and the culture medium, Cry1Ca was added at 1000 µg/L to algae with a high density of 4.8×106 cells/mL, and Cry1Ca content was determined daily in C. pyrenoidosa and the culture medium by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Our results showed that the growth curves of C. pyrenoidosa exposed to 10, 100, and 1000 µg/L of Cry1Ca almost overlapped with that of the blank control, and there were no statistically significant differences among the four treatments from day 0 to day 7, regardless of generation. Moreover, the Cry1Ca content in the culture medium and in C. pyrenoidosa sharply decreased under exposure of 1000 µg/L Cry1Ca with high initial C. pyrenoidosa cell density. The above results demonstrate that Cry1Ca in water can be rapidly adsorbed and degraded by C. pyrenoidosa, but it has no suppressive or stimulative effect on algae growth.