Bacillus thuringensis

Biological agents such as Bacillus thuringensis, BT, has been coming to the fore as a forest insecticide, as more has been learned about its use. Attention is now being given also to the viruses such as the polyhedrosis virus of the tussock moth. 

Although historically most useful antibiotics have come from spore forming microorganisms, marine organisms have yielded the candidate antitumor peptide didemnin B [77327-50-0] (2) and cytostatic peptides such as the patellamides (3). Many of the marine peptides have little or no antimicrobial activity. Antibacterial peptides called magainins are found in frog skin (4) and antibacterial proteins called defensins are found in mammalian white blood cells (5). The commercially important insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringensis (6) are not discussed herein nor are the numerous peptide siderophores (7,8), which, except for the albomycins (9), are usually not antimicrobial. 

Bacillus i cereus T and Bacillus thuringensis subs. Kuristaki HD-1 ... 

The corn being grown in the field has been genetically engineered. The gene that was introduced came from the bacterium Bacillus thuringensis. 

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