Bacillus Thuringiensis Kurstaki Highest Quality 4000 IU/mg 8000IU/mg 16000 IU/mg

Product Overview

Description

Bacillus thuringensis (Bt) is a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium that forms characteristic protein inclusions adjacent to the endospore. Bt is genetically indistinguishable from Bacillus cereus (Bc). However, Bt has the ability to produce parasporal crystalline inclusions, which are toxic for certain invertebrates, especially species of insect larvae belonging to the insect orders Coleoptera, Diptera and Lepidoptera. The parasporal inclusions are formed by different insecticidal crystal proteins (ICP). The crystals have various shapes (bipyramidal, cuboidal, flat rhomboid, spherical or composite with two crystal types), depending on their ICP composition.

 

Bacillus thuringiensis serotype kurstaki (Btk) is a group of bacteria used as biological control agents against lepidopterans. Btk, along with other B. thuringiensis products, is one of the most widely used biological pesticides due to its high specificity; it is effective against lepidopterans, and it has little to no effect on nontarget species. During sporulation, Btk produces a crystal protein that is lethal to lepidopteran larvae.^[1] Once ingested by the insect, the dissolution of the crystal allows the protoxin to be released. The toxin is then activated by the insect gut juice, and it begins to break down the gut.