Attempts to genetically engineer a recombinant bacterium that
produces a combination of the mosquitocidal proteins of
Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis and Bacillus sphaericus have met with moderate success, with the typical recombinant being 2-3 fold more efficacious than either parental species. We have produced several much more efficacious recombinant Bti/Bs strains that are 6-8 times as efficacious as the parental bacteria by engineering the synthesis of the proteins to be under the control of cyt1A promoters and the mRNA stabilizing sequence STAB-SD. This new engineering strategy should enable a range of new effective bacterial larvicides for controlling a variety of disease vectors, and also holds potential for designing better bacterial insecticides for crops pests.
Species 1: Diptera Culicidae
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The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA