Diversity of Colombian strains of Bacillus thuringiensis with insecticidal activity against dipteran and lepidopteran insects

Aim:  To evaluate the genetic and molecular diversity and insecticidal activity of Bacillus thuringiensis isolates from all the natural regions of Colombia. Methods and Results:  A total of 445 isolates from a collection of B. thuringiensis were characterized. The parasporal crystal morphology that was most abundant was bipyramidal (60%). Almost 10% of the isolates were toxic to Spodoptera frugiperda and 5·6% against Culex quinquefasciatus larvae. cry gene content determined by PCR indicated that 10·6% of the isolates contained cry1 genes and 1·1% contained cry2, cry4 or cry11 genes. Protein content of the parasporal crystal was determined by SDS–PAGE; 25 and 18 different protein profiles were found in isolates active against S. frugiperda and C. quinquefasciatus, respectively. Conclusions: Bacillus thuringiensis presents great genetic and molecular diversity even in isolates from the same soil sample. Moreover, the diversity and activity of the isolates might have a relationship with the geographical origin of the samples. Significance and Impact of the Study:  The results obtained here indicate that some of the B. thuringiensis isolates characterized in this study are potential control agents that could be used in programmes against mosquitoes and S. frugiperda.