INVESTIGATION AND PRODUCTION OF BIOINSECTICIDES BASED ON NEWLY BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS STRAINS ISOLATED FROM QATAR FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BIOLOGICAL AGRICULTURE AND SAFE FOOD PRODUCTION IN QATAR

Abstract

Bacillus thuringiensis produces parasporal crystals responsible of their insecticidal activity against specific insect orders. Eight newly isolated Bt strains produce different parasporal crystal and have several genetic profiles. Three local Bt strains were very active against the disease vector insect Culex. Pipiens. The strain QBT755 showed high stability under at 42°C compared to other strains. All the explored strains showed important ?-endotoxin production capacity. The formulation of final bioinsecticides was very successful. In addition, QBT755 produces Cyt1a cytolytic protein responsible of anti-cancer activity (data unpublished). Its gene cyt1A was successfully expressed downstream a strong E. coli promoter. The recombinant strain of E. coli has shown its growth kinetics affected by the expressed Cyt1A protein, demonstrating new avenues for the industrial production of Cyt1A for biocontrol, as well as cytolytic applications in pharmaceutical industries. All these strains can be considered as potential native candidates for the production of efficient biopesticides.