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The use of combinations of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins with diverse modes of action for insect pest control has been proposed as the most efficient strategy to increase target range and delay the onset of insect resistance. Considering that most cases of cross-resistance to Bt toxins in laboratory-selected insect colonies are due to alteration of common toxin binding sites, independent modes of action can be defined as toxins sharing limited or no binding sites in brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) prepared from the target insect larvae. In this paper, we report on the specific binding of Cry2Ae toxin to binding sites on BBMV from larvae of the three most commercially relevant heliothine species, Heliothis virescens, Helicoverpa zea, and Helicoverpa armigera. Using chromatographic purification under reducing conditions before labeling, we detected specific binding of radiolabeled Cry2Ae, which allowed us to perform competition assays using Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, Cry1Fa, Vip3A, Cry2Ae, and Cry2Ab toxins as competitors. In these assays, Cry2Ae binding sites were shared with Cry2Ab but not with the tested Cry1 or Vip3A toxins. Our data support the use of Cry2Ae toxin in combination with Cry1 or Vip3A toxins in strategies to increase target range and delay the onset of heliothine resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]