Aislamiento y caracterización molecular, ribotipificación, de cepas nativas de Bacillus thuringiensis aisladas en suelos y larvas muertas de Hylesia metabus en la región nororiental de Venezuela

bacillus thuringiensis is a gram positive spore-forming bacteria of the b. cereus group, that produces δ-endotoxins, encoded mainly by cry genes, with pathogenic specific activity against some insect larvae. this property has been used in products applied to the control of hylesia metabus, a pest known as ？palometa peluda？ that affects living population in the northeast region of venezuela. in the venezuelan center for culture collections we have initiated the construction of a collection of b. thuringiensis native strains isolated from soils and h. metabus death larvae that could be applied in pest control. the use of selective growth conditions, biochemical tests and detection of parasporal inclusions, followed by ribotyping methods, allowed the identification of 11 b. thuringiensis native strains. variety of ribotypes shows the genetic heterogeneity of b. thuringiensis identified