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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., May 1995, 1786-1790, Vol 61, No. 5
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology

Insecticidal Activity of the Toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies kurstaki and tenebrionis Adsorbed and Bound on Pure and Soil Clays

H Tapp and G Stotzky
Laboratory of Microbial Ecology, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, New York 10003

The release of transgenic plants and microorganisms expressing truncated genes from various subspecies of Bacillus thuringiensis that encode active insecticidal toxins rather than inactive protoxins could result in the accumulation of these active proteins in soil, especially when bound on clays and other soil particles. Toxins from B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki and B. thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis, either free or adsorbed at equilibrium or bound on pure clay minerals (montmorillonite or kaolinite) or on the clay size fraction of soil, were toxic to larvae of the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) and the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), respectively. The 50% lethal concentrations (LC(inf50)) of free toxins from B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki were higher than those of both bound and adsorbed complexes of these toxins with clays, indicating that adsorption and binding of these toxins on clays increase their toxicity in diet bioassays. The LC(inf50) of the toxin from B. thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis that was either free or adsorbed on montmorillonite were comparable, whereas the toxin bound on this clay had higher LC(inf50) and the toxin bound on kaolinite had lower LC(inf50) than when adsorbed on this clay. Results obtained with the clay size fraction separated from unamended soil or soil amended with montmorillonite or kaolinite were similar to those obtained with the respective pure clay minerals. Therefore, insecticidal activity of these toxins is retained and sometimes enhanced by adsorption and binding on clays.

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