Microbial combinatorics: a simplified approach for isolating insecticidal bacteria
Titel:
Microbial combinatorics: a simplified approach for isolating insecticidal bacteria
Auteur:
Martin, Phyllis A. W. Mongeon, Elizabeth A. Gundersen-Rindal, Dawn E.
Verschenen in:
Biocontrol science and technology
Paginering:
Jaargang 18 (2008) nr. 3 pagina's 291-305
Jaar:
2008
Inhoud:
Bacteria can control pest insects that damage food crops, vector diseases and defoliate trees. Conventionally, isolation of these bacteria has been from soil and sporadically from dead insects. A simplified approach for isolating insecticidal bacteria from soil using the target insect as the selective agent was employed in this study. Instead of isolating single strains of bacteria from soil and testing each individual strain for insect toxicity, mixtures of bacteria present in each soil sample were tested together directly for toxicity using Manduca sexta (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) as a model insect. Thirty-five soil suspensions or bacterial suspensions of the 40 suspensions tested killed at least one M. sexta larva. All but one bacterial culture isolated from dead larvae and retested for toxicity, killed at least one M. sexta larva. Nineteen bacterial strains isolated from larvae killed in the first test, were identical to the bacteria fed to the retested larvae. Of the 19 strains isolated, 14 were identified by 16S rDNA sequencing as belonging to the Bacillus cereus group including three strains that formed crystals that were identified as B. thuringiensis. Of the three other spore-forming strains, two were identified as psychrotrophic B. weihenstephanensis and the third as Lysinibacillus fusiformis. Two others were identified as Enterococcus faecalis. This approach, microbial combinatorics, reduces the number of insects necessary for toxicity screening and associated time and resources compared to conventional methods that first isolate bacteria and then individually test for toxicity as well as a means of discovery of new pathogens using the insect as the selective agent.