Molecular characterization of Bacillus thuringiensis strains from Argentina.

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 LC(50) 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.