BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS SPECIFIC TO SCARABAEID BEETLES: A REVIEW

Abstract  Since the first report of Bacillus sotto by Ishiwata in 1901, thousands of related papers about Bacillus thuringiensis have been documented. In the field of biocontrol of insect pests by this bacterium, after the initial discovery of several B. thuringiensis isolates specific for lepidopteran insects, the isolation of B. thuringiensis israelensis , specific to dipteran larvae by Goldberg and Margalit, and B. thuringiensis tenebrionis , specific to some group of coleopteran insects by Krieg et al . were epoch making advances. In 1992, Ohba et al . isolated B. thuringiensis ja ponensis strain Buibui, which was specific to only scarabaeid larvae. This isolate is the main target of our discussion in this review. These discoveries by which not only B. thuringiensis sciences, but also applied biological control strategies have been enriched, which inspirit us to screen novel isolates.
On the other hand, the fields of molecular biology and biochemistry studies on the structural elucidation of toxin proteins and mechanism of action have also tremendously progressed. But the complete mechanism has yet to be solved. For instance, interaction between receptor proteins locating on the plasma membrane of insect midgut epithelial cells and insecticidal proteins has not been fully sketched- In a way, this field is still in chaos. Addressing these exciting and enigmatic subjects will eventually lead to the construction of sustainable agriculture in the 21st century.