ARS | Publication request: Isolation, culture, preservation, and identification of entomopathogenic bacteria of the bacilli

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: January 27, 2012
Publication Date: June 15, 2012
Citation: Fisher, T.W., Garczynski, S.F. 2012. Chapter III: Isolation, culture, preservation, and identification of entomopathogenic bacteria of the bacilli. In: Lacey, L. (ed). Manual of Techniques in Invertebrate Pathology. 2nd Edition. London: Academic Press. pp 77-101.

Interpretive Summary: To reduce chemical insecticide contamination of the environment, apple and pear growers need non-pesticidal methods to control codling moth, the major insect pest that causes fruit damage. Scientists at the USDA-ARS Yakima Agricultural Laboratory in Wapato, WA, are conducting research to find ways to make microbes that specifically kill insect pests more effective in codling moth control programs. Toxins produced by insect pathogenic bacteria can be used to kill insect pests, including the codling moth. This book chapter provides up-to-date information on the most common bacteria used to control insect pests. The information in this chapter will provide other scientists the technology they need to develop more effective microbial control programs to kill insect pests, including the codling moth. This line of research will result in the decreased use of chemical insecticides in apple and pear orchards in the Pacific Northwest.

Technical Abstract: Entomopathogenic bacteria provide an alternative to chemical pesticides used in insect control programs. This chapter provides techniques, both classical and modern, that will enable researchers from any laboratory setting to identify and work with novel strains of entomopathogenic bacteria. In addition to providing classical techniques to search for and identify new bacterial isolates toxic to insects, this current chapter includes the use of 16S rDNA gene sequence determination and comparison, which has led to much of the refinements defining the Bacilli. Because these bacteria still have the same biochemical and morphological traits used to determine their identity, we have retained many of the procedures used to isolate, cultivate and identify Bacilli described in the first edition of this manual.