Bacillus toyonensis biovar Thuringiensis strain:Bto-UNVM_94 Genome sequencing and assembly
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a Gram-positive and spore-forming bacterium that synthesizes an extraordinary diversity of proteins with insecticidal activity and has demonstrated its potential and safety as a biocontrol agent for more than four decades. The insecticidal proteins include both crystal (Cry and Cyt) and secretable proteins (Vip and Sip) highly toxic against a wide range of invertebrate species. Several natural Bt strains have been incorporated successfully in the production of sprayable Bt-based bioinsecticides (wherein the active component is a mixture of crystal proteins), microencapsulated insecticidal formulations; and their toxin genes have been also included in transgenic crops. However, insects targeted have been subject to selective pressures and started showing resistance to some of the most frequently used strains and toxins, thus demanding the search for novel strains and toxins. In this work, we performed the isolation, genome sequencing and characterization of a novel Bt strain that has been designated Bt-Cul. Its genomic sequence harbours one Cry encoding gene sequence exhibiting similarity with Cry7Ga toxin plus two potential mosquiticidal toxin genes, which may be responsible of the toxicity showed against Spodoptera cosmioides and Cydia pomonella.