Vegetos

Abstract

Six strains of soil-borne bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, were isolated from the 79 soils sampled from different regions of Western plain zone of Uttar Pradesh, India. The strains were identified based on morphological and biochemical characterization, and further differentiated using random amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR (RAPD-PCR). All strains were rod-shaped, Gram positive, with both spores and crystals, catalase positive and nitrate to nitrite reducing characteristic. Of the 25 random primers screened, only 14 primers amplified the polymorphic bands, among which Jaccard s similarity showed relatively low similarity. Based on the molecular similarity in the RAPD profiles, the strains were grouped into two major clusters A and B, and maximum linkage distance between them was determined to be 33%. Cluster A consisted of a reference strain, B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki, among five strains and cluster B consisted of only two strains.