Comparison of Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis DNA Fingerprints of Field Isolates of the Entomopathogen Bacillus popilliae

Eight strains of the entomopathogen Bacillus popilliae were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and genomic size estimates of ^sim2,600 to 3,500 kb were obtained. The type strain, ATCC 14706, had a genomic size of 3,395 kb. For the six New Zealand isolates, the degree of similarity in the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis fingerprints may correlate with the geographical closeness of the sites of isolation. The plasmid profiles of the New Zealand isolates were also compared; four of the six strains carry plasmids in the 3.6- to 9.7-kb size range.