An Ultra-Violet Tolerant Wild-Type Strain of Melanin-Producing Bacillus thuringiensis

BACKGROUND: Bacillus thuringiensis is the most successful biological control agent used in agriculture, forestry and mosquito control. However, the insecticidal activity of the B. thuringiensis formulation is not very stable and rapidly loses its biological activity under field conditions, due to the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight. Melanin is known to absorb radiation therefore photo protection of B. thuringiensis based on melanin has been extensively studied. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to find a wild type strain of naturally melanin-producing B. thuringiensis to avoid any mutation or manipulation that can affect the Cry protein content. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bacillus thuringiensis strains were isolated from soils of different States of Mexico and pigment extraction was followed by lowering the pH to 2 using 1N HCl. Pigment was characterized by some chemical tests based on its solubility, bleaching by H(2)O(2) and flocculation with FeCl(3), and using an Infrared (IR) spectrum. Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation experiment was performed to probe the melanin efficacy. RESULTS: ELI52 strain of B. thuringiensis was confirmed to naturally produce melanin. The Cry protein analysis suggested that ELI52 is probably a B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis strain with toxic activity against the Diptera order of insects. Ultra Violet protection efficacy of melanin was probed counting total viable colonies after UV radiation and comparing the results with the non-producing melanin strain L-DOPA (L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) was also detected in the culture. ELI52 strain showed an antagonistic effect over some common bacteria from the environment. CONCLUSIONS: ELI52 wild-type strain of B. thuringiensis is a good bio-insecticide that produces melanin with UV-resistance that is probably toxic against the Diptera order of insects and can inhibit the growth of other environmental bacteria.