Expression and Purification of Recombinant MP-GFP Protein in Escherichia coli

Guided pesticide is an unique compound resulted from the conjugation with carrier (amino acid, protein, sugars, etc) and the active pesticide ingredient. One of the attributes of the guided pesticide is its potential to accumulate at the site of the damaged points caused by pest or at the site of entry to the target pests, such as via inhalation, cuticular penetration, and oral digestion. Movement protein (MP) is a kind of protein coded by plant virus. A genetic fusion between green fluorescent protein (GFP) and movement protein resulted in the expression of a fluorescent fusion MP-GFP protein, which was fully biologically active in mediating the cell-to-cell spread of virus. In order to obtain a suitable carrier for a pesticide, fluorescent carrier MP-GFP was constructed. It was found that the recombinant MP-GFP protein was the inclusion body. The results indicated that optimized cultural condition for expression of recombinant MP-GFP protein was incubation at 37°C for 2 h and induction with 0.2 mmol L−1 IPTG (isopropyl-β-dthiogalactopyranoside) at 25°C for 4 h. MP-GFP protein was purified by using Ni-NTA resin. The expressed recombinant MP-GFP protein had both the fluorescence character of report GFP gene and moving character of movement protein. It could provide a guided carrier for studying the guided pesticide. It could also provide convenience for studying the delivery and distribution of the guided pesticide ingredients in the plant.