Diversity of Bacillus thuringiensis in different habitats of northern Jordan

A survey of Bacillus thuringiensis was conducted for 17 locations in Northern Jordan representing 12 different habitats. Eighty isolates were identified as B. thuringiensis in the majority of the tested samples. Results showed that soils contaminated with the slaughterhouses waste materials had the highest content of spore-forming bacteria [(4.05-2.2) 10(7) CFU/g)] and B. thuringiensis [(4.05-7.9) 10(7) CFU/g)] with a (5.5%-14.9%) and (5.2%-7.7%) of the total viable bacterial count, respectively. These bacteria were more abundant in soils contaminated with such animal by-products.