Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for detection and quantitation of the entomocidal parasporal crystalline protein of Bacillus thuringiensis subspp. kurstaki and israelensis.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect and quantitate the parasporal crystal toxins of Bacillus thuringiensis subspp. kurstaki and israelensis. The assay method described is extremely sensitive, accurate, and highly specific. With this technique, crystalline insecticidal proteins from several subspecies of B. thuringiensis were compared. The dipteran crystal toxin produced by B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis was shown to share few epitopes with the lepidopteran toxin from B. thuringiensis subspp. kurstaki, tolworthi, berliner, and alesti.