title: Use of oligonucleotide probes to study the relatedness of delta-endotoxin genes among Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies and strains.
abstract: Fifteen Bacillus thuringiensis strains representing 13 serotypes were screened with five oligodeoxyribonucleotide probes specific for certain regions of two published sequences and one unpublished sequence of B. thuringiensis delta-endotoxin genes. Of the 15 cultures, 14 hybridized with at least one probe; the B. thuringiensis subsp. thompsoni strain alone did not hybridize. Two B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki strains of commercial interest, HD-1 and NRD-12, were found to be so closely related as to be indistinguishable with this technique; the same situation was found with strains from B. thuringiensis subspp. dendrolimus and sotto. Five strains were identified as probably containing only one endotoxin gene. A probe specific for the gene from the B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki HD-73 strain hybridized to only 3 of the 15 cultures tested. The hybridization data suggest that the DNA sequences coding for the C-terminal region of the endotoxin protein are as well conserved as those coding for the N-terminal toxic portion.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genetics Section, Biotechnology Research Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Prefontaine
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fast
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hefford
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hanna
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brousseau
mesh_terms: D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000235:genetics*; D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000235:genetics*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004731:Endotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D009841:Oligonucleotides; C030956:insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes