Bacillus thuringiensis has a significant impact on biological pest control because of the insecticidal activity through its parasporal inclusion bodies (crystal proteins). Fig is an economically important plant in Turkey, agricultural pests result in a considerable economic loss in fig quality and cultivation. | Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Turk J Agric For (2014) 38: 898-907 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Distribution, occurrence of cry genes, and lepidopteran toxicity of native Bacillus thuringiensis isolated from fig tree environments in Aydın Province 1 1, 1 1 Mehlika ALPER , Hatice GÜNEŞ *, Arzu TATLIPINAR , Bekir ÇÖL , 1 2 1 Hasan Sungur CİVELEK , Cem ÖZKAN , Burcu POYRAZ 1 Department of Biology, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Kötekli Campus, Muğla, Turkey 2 Department of Plant Protection, Ankara University, Tandoğan Campus, Ankara, Turkey Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has a significant impact on biological pest control because of the insecticidal activity through its parasporal inclusion bodies (crystal proteins). Fig is an economically important plant in Turkey; agricultural pests result in a considerable economic loss in fig quality and cultivation. The aim of this work was to isolate, characterize, and determine the lepidopteran toxicity of Bt obtained from fig groves in Aydın Province. A total of 606 colonies (out of 1167) obtained from 380 samples were identified as Bt based on parasporal crystal formation. The highest Bt index of was observed in the Kuyucak region. A total of 288 Bt isolates were characterized in terms of cry gene content by PCR analysis. It was found that the cry1 plus cry2 genotype was the most abundant (40%) in our collection. Bioactivity tests indicated that 6 isolates exhibited high mortalities against Cadra cautella and 3 isolates were found to exhibit high toxicity against Carpophilus hemipterus. Moreover, 13 Bt isolates exhibiting toxic activity against fig pests were further characterized based on specific cry gene content, protein profiles, and PCR-RFLP analysis. Among cry1 genes, the cry1Aa, cry1Ab, cry1Ac, cry1B, cry1C, cry1D, and cry1Ea .
