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CORESTA Congress, Kyoto, 2004, P 03

Assessment of the efficacy of Japanese Bacillus thuringiensis isolates against the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (Coleoptera: Anobiidae)

TSUCHIYA S.; KASAISHI Y.; HARADA H.; ICHIMATSU T.; SAITOH H.; MIZUKI E.; OHBA M.
Japan Tobacco Inc., Leaf Tobacco Research Lab., Oyama, Tochigi, Japan.

A total of 2652 Japanese isolates of Bacillus thuringiensis, belonging to at least 54 H serogroups, were examined for assessment of the toxicity against the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (Coleoptera: Anobiidae). When tested with spore/parasporal inclusion mixtures, strong larvicidal activities were associated with 28 isolates (1.1%). Serologically, these toxic isolates fell into 4 known H serovars: thuringiensis (9 isolates), kurstaki (2), kenyae (2), and darmstadiensis (15). Purified parasporal inclusions of the 10 selected isolates exhibited no larvicidal activity, while the supernatants of liquid cultures showed larvicidal and/or growth inhibitory effects. The activities were fully retained after heat treatment at 100 °C for 10 min. Overall results suggest that ß-exotoxin (or thuringiensin)-related substances are responsible for the toxicity of the present B. thuringiensis isolates against the cigarette beetle.