title: Occurrence of Bacillus thuringiensis in fresh waters of Japan.
abstract: Bacillus thuringiensis was recovered at a relatively high frequency from both running and still fresh waters in natural environments of Kyushu, Japan. Of 107 water samples examined, 53 (49.5%) contained this organism. The frequency of B. thuringiensis colonies was 4.4% among 4414 colonies of the Bacillus cereus/B. thuringiensis group. The density of this bacterium in fresh waters averaged 0.45 cfu/ml. Serologically, B. thuringiensis isolates were assigned to 26 H serotypes. Of these, H14/36 (H serovar israelensis/malaysiensis) was the predominant, followed by the serotypes H3abc (kurstaki), H27 (mexicanensis), H3ad (sumiyoshiensis), and H35 (seoulensis). Of 195 isolates, 52 (26.7%) exhibited larvicidal activity against aquatic Diptera; 21 killed Culex pipiens molestus (Culicidae) only, and 31 were active on both the culicine mosquito and the moth-fly, Clogmia albipunctata (Psychodidae). The Diptera-toxic isolates produced spherical or irregularly pointed parasporal inclusions.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology and Food Research Institute, Fukuoka Industrial Technology Center, 1465-5 Aikawa, Kurume, Fukuoka 839-0861, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichimatsu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mizuki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akao
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saitoh
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohba
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D009033:Culicidae / Q000382:microbiology; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000382:microbiology*; D007564:Japan; D007814:Larva / Q000382:microbiology; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000382:microbiology; D012703:Serotyping; D014871:Water Microbiology