The structure of an insect control protein gene from Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki HD-1 was determined, and truncated forms of the gene that express a functional insecticidal protein were generated.  Two of these truncated genes were incorporated into a plant expression vector for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.  Transgenic tomato plants containing the chimeric genes express the insect control protein gene.  Such expression confers tolerance to lepidopteran larvae on the transgenic tomato plants and their progeny.  These engineered tomato plants represent a significant step to increased selectivity, specificity and efficiency in insect control.