Abstract:
Morphological and electrophoretic analysis of the c
rystalline inclusions (parasporal
crystals) of sporulated cultures of
B. thuringiensis
ssp.
kumamotoensis
DSM 6070 (Bt
6070) was conducted via phase contrast and scanning
electron microscopy and sodium
dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
. The activity of the spore-crystal
suspensions against house fly (
Musca domestica
) larvae was also assessed. Bipyramidal
and smaller, irregular shaped crystals were observe
d in the sporulated cultures. 130, 75
and 25 kDa bands were detected in the protein patte
rn. The presence of 25 kda proteins in
Bt6070 has not been reported earlier. The spore-cry
stal suspension showed significant
larvicide activity against housefly larvae. Larvici
de activity of
B. thuringiensis
ssp.
kumamotoensis
against any dipteran species has not been detected
yet. Further studies are
needed on identifying the dipteran- active fraction
.
Keywords
:
Bacillus thuringiensis,
Parasporal crystals, Polyacrylamide gel-electrophor
esis,
Scanning electron microscopy.
