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Review

Bacillus thuringiensis: A genomics and proteomics perspective

Mohamed A. Ibrahim, Natalya Griko, Matthew Junker and Lee A. Bulla

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Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a unique bacterium in that it shares a common place with a
number of chemical compounds which are used commercially to control insects important to
agriculture and public health.  Although other bacteria, including B. popilliae and B. sphaericus,
are used as microbial insecticides, their spectrum of insecticidal activity is quite limited
compared to Bt.  Importantly, Bt is safe for humans and is the most widely used environmentally
compatible biopesticide worldwide.  Furthermore, insecticidal Bt genes have been incorporated
into several major crops, rendering them insect resistant, and thus providing a model for genetic
engineering in agriculture.
This review highlights what the authors consider the most relevant issues and topics
pertaining to the genomics and proteomics of Bt.  At least one of the authors (LAB) has spent
most of his professional life studying different aspects of this bacterium with the goal in mind of
determining the mechanism(s) by which it kills insects.  The other authors have a much shorter
experience with Bt but their intellect and personal insight have greatly enriched our
understanding of what makes Bt distinctive in the microbial world.  Obviously, there is personal
interest and bias reflected in this article notwithstanding oversight of a number of published
studies.  This review contains some material not published elsewhere although several ideas and
concepts were developed from a broad base of scientific literature up to 2010.

Authors

Mohamed A. Ibrahim

Biological Targets, Inc., Pilot Point, TX

Natalya Griko

Biological Targets, Inc., Pilot Point, TX

Matthew Junker

Kutztown University, Department of Physical Sciences, Kutztown, PA

Lee A. Bulla Corresponding author: labulla@biologicaltargets

Biological Targets, Inc., Pilot Point, TX; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX

This is an open-access article

 Download PDF

If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.