Association of bioassays and molecular characterization to select new Bacillus thuringiensis isolates effective against Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), is one of the main corn pests and Bacillus thuringiensis is important in its control because of its entomopathogenic property. The objective of this study was the molecular characterization of B. thuringiensis isolates for cry1 locus presence and the assessment of the efficiency of these isolates in controlling S. frugiperda caterpillars. Gral-cry1 was used in the PCR analyses to confirm the presence of the cry1 locus in 15 isolates. A 3 x 10(8) spore/ml suspension bathed the diet used to feed 30 caterpillars per isolate, with three replications. The cry1 locus type genes of the different isolates were identified for five gene subclasses; linear regression analyses were carried out to ascertain possible associations between the presence of an individual cry1 locus gene and high levels of toxicity. All the DNAs amplified with Gral-cry1 presented an amplification product with the expected size. Regarding the levels of insecticide efficiency against the cob worm, 41 isolates presented 100% mortality and 16 presented an index between 70% and 90%. The cry1Ab gene was present in 80 isolates, cryb in 69 isolates, cry1Ac in all the isolates and cryv and cry1E in 93 and 27 isolates, respectively. The values regarding the individual effect of each gene on caterpillar mortality were significant at 1% probability for the cry1Ac and cry1E genes.