Therefore, identification of Bt Cry
toxin interacting proteins in the midgut of target insects and understanding their role in toxicity is of
great interest to exploit their insecticidal action. Using ligand blot, we demonstrated that Bt Cry3Aa toxin
bound to a 30 kDa protein in Colorado potato beetle (CPB) larval midgut membrane, identified by
sequence homology as prohibitin-1 protein. Prohibitins comprise a highly conserved family of proteins
implicated in important cellular processes.