Download What is Bacillus thuringiensis?

What is Bacillus thuringiensis?
Kaley Graves
Kayla John
What is it?
• Soil-dwelling, rod-shaped bacterium
• Used as Insecticide (since 1930s)
-kills butterfly and moth caterpillars,
mosquitos, and some fly larvae
• Gets rid of harmful threats to a plants’ health
Microbiology
• The bacteria is a pesticide because of a
protein endotoxin. Its actually a so-called
protoxin.
• The molecule must be processed to some
other form before the toxic activity is present.
• The protoxin molecules form a crystal that
doesn’t dissolve easily inside the bacterium.
How it kills
• The endotoxin produces a lining on the wall of
the insects’ gut.
• It makes holes in the cells, destroying the
function of the gut.
• The toxins creates massive cell death.
• The larva is unable to eat.
• Death.