Insecticidal Activity of Strains of Bacillus thuringiensis on Larvae and Adults of Bactrocera oleae Gmelin (Dipt. Tephritidae)

• Published in: Journal of invertebrate pathology 1999-09, Vol.74 (2), p.127-136
• Main Authors: Alberola, T.M., Aptosoglou, S., Arsenakis, M., Bel, Y., Delrio, G., Ellar, D.J., Ferré, J., Granero, F., Guttmann, D.M., Koliais, S., Martínez-Sebastián, M.J., Prota, R., Rubino, S., Satta, A., Scarpellini, G., Sivropoulou, A., Vasara, E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adult stages; Animals; Bacillus thuringiensis; Bacillus thuringiensis - isolation & purification; bacterial insecticides; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; bacterial toxins; Bactrocera oleae; Biological and medical sciences; Biological control; Control; cry gene cyt gene; cry genes; crystal proteins; Dacus oleae; developmental stages; Diptera - microbiology; DNA Primers; Europe; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genes; geographical variation; insecticidal properties; Larva - microbiology; larvae; Olea europaea; olive fly; Opius concolor; orchards; parasitoids; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Protozoa. Invertebrates; strain differences; Temperature; Tephritidae
• ISSN: 0022-2011; 1096-0805
• DOI: 10.1006/jipa.1999.4871

The olive fly, Bactrocera oleae, is the key pest on olives in the Mediterranean area. The pest can destroy, in some cases, up to 70% of the olive production. Its control relies mainly on chemical treatments, sometimes applied by aircraft over vast areas, with their subsequent ecological and toxicological side effects. Bacillus thuringiensis is a spore-forming soil bacterium which produces a protein crystal toxic to some insects, including the orders of Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera and other invertebrates. The aim of this study was to search for isolates toxic to B. oleae. Several hundred B. thuringiensis isolates were obtained from olive groves and olive presses in different areas of Greece, Sardinia (Italy), and Spain and from cooperating scientists throughout the world. Some isolates were found toxic only to adults or larvae and some to both stages of the olive fly. In addition, the most toxic isolates were assayed on Opius concolor Szepl. (Hym. Braconidae), the most important parasitoid of the olive fruit fly. Only 3 isolates out of 14 gave significant mortality against this parasitoid. Several of the most toxic crystalliferous isolates may contain novel toxins since they gave no PCR products when probed with primers specified for 39 known toxin genes.