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Molecular characterization of Bacillus thuringiensis strains from Argentina

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Abstract

Bacillus thuringiensis INTA 7-3, INTA 51-3, INTA Mo9-5 and INTA Mo14-4 strains were obtained from Argentina and characterized by determination of serotype, toxicity, plasmid composition, insecticidal gene content (cry and vip) and the cloning of the single-vip3A gene of the INTA Mo9-5 strain. The serotype analysis identified the serovars tohokuensis and darmstadiensis for the INTA 51-3 and INTA Mo14-4 strains, respectively, whereas the INTA Mo9-5 strain was classified as “autoagglutinated”. In contrast to the plasmid patterns of INTA 7-3, INTA 51-3 and INTA Mo9-5 (which were similar to B. thuringiensis HD-1 strain), strain INTA Mo14-4 showed a unique plasmid array. PCR analysis of the four strains revealed the presence of cry genes and vip3A genes. Interestingly, it was found that B. thuringiensis 4Q7 strain, which is a plasmid cured strain, contained vip3A genes indicating the presence of these insecticidal genes in the chromosome. Bioassays towards various lepidopteran species revealed that B. thuringiensis INTA Mo9-5 and INTA 7-3 strains were highly active. In particular, the mean LC50 obtained against A. gemmatalis larvae with the INTA Mo9-5 and INTA 7-3 strains were 7 (5.7−8.6) and 6.7 (5.6-8.0) ppm, respectively. The INTA Mo14-4 strain was non-toxic and strain INTA 51-3 showed only a weak larvicidal activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Multidisciplinario de Estudios en Biotecnología-FMVZ, Univ. Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Km, 9.5 Carretera Morelia-Zinapécuaro, Morelia, Michoacán, México. Apdo. Postal, 53, Administración Chapultepec. C.P. 58262, Spain

    Alejandro Franco-Rivera, Victor Manuel Baizabal-Aguirre, Juan José Valdez-Alarcón & Joel Edmundo López-Meza

  2. Instituto de Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, CC 25, (1712), Castelar, Argentina

    Graciela Benintende & Jorge Cozzi

Authors
  1. Alejandro Franco-Rivera
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  2. Graciela Benintende
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  3. Jorge Cozzi
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  4. Victor Manuel Baizabal-Aguirre
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  5. Juan José Valdez-Alarcón
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  6. Joel Edmundo López-Meza
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Franco-Rivera, A., Benintende, G., Cozzi, J. et al. Molecular characterization of Bacillus thuringiensis strains from Argentina. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 86, 87–92 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ANTO.0000024913.94410.05

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ANTO.0000024913.94410.05

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