Compositions and methods for conferring pesticidal activity to bacteria, plants, plant cells, tissues and seeds are provided. Compositions containing a synthetic nucleotide sequence encoding a Cry1Ac protein are provided. The coding sequences can be used in DNA constructs or expression cassettes for transformation and expression in plants and bacteria. Compositions also include transformed bacteria, plants, plant cells, tissues, and seeds. In particular, isolated pesticidal nucleic acid molecules are provided, wherein the nucleotide sequences are set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, as well as variants and fragments thereof.