Characterization of Bacillus thuringiensis soil isolates from Cuba, with insecticidal activity against mosquitoes

Chemical insecticides may be toxic and cause environmental degradation. Consequently, biological control for insects represents an alternative with low ecological impact. In this work, three soil isolates (A21, A51 and C17) from different regions of the Cuban archipelago were identified, characterized and evaluated against Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus. The new isolates were compared with reference IPS82 strain and two strains isolated from biolarvicides Bactivec and Bactoculicida, respectively. The differentiation was done by morphological, biochemical, bioassays activity and molecular methods (SDS-PAGE, plasmid profile and random amplified polymorphic analysis). All isolates were identified as Bacillus thuringiensis. The A21, A51 and C17 isolates showed higher larvicide activity than Bactivec's isolated reference strain, against both A. aegypti and C. quinquefasciatus. A21 isolate had a protein profile similar to IPS82 and Bactivec strain. A51 and C17 isolates produced a characteristic proteins pattern. A21 and A51 isolates had plasmid patterns similar to IPS82 standard strain, while C17 isolate had different both plasmid profile and protein bands. All the studied isolates showed a diverse RAPD patterns and were different from the strains previously used in biological control in Cuba.