What is bacillus thuringiensis?

bacillus thuringiensis (BT) is a bacterium living in soil, which also naturally occurs on the surface of some plants and in the intestines of some caterpillars. It is commonly used as a pesticide in gardens. bacillus thuringiensis has a small or no effect on humans, wild animals and beneficial insects and is therefore considered environmentally friendly.

In 1901, the Japanese biologist Shigetane Ishiwata first discovered bacillus thuringiensis called bacillus sotto . The bacterium was discovered in 1911 by the German biologist Ernst Berliner, who gave her his current name after the German city of Thurning. Bacteria are closely related to bacillus cereus , other bacteria living in the soil and bacillus anthracis , causing anthrax disease.

bacillus thuringiensis has been used as a pesticide since the end of the 1920Rethanem (DDT), widely used pesticide in the early 20th century. DDT is very poisonous for water animals, birds and mammals, including humans. In humans, it was associated with asthma, cancer, diabetes, neurological problems and reproductive problems and biodegraded easily.

bacillus thuringiensis seems safe for people and wildlife. It is usually sprayed on crops, but since the age of 80, some plants, including varieties of tobacco, corn and cotton, have been genetically created to express b. This genetic modification prevents insects that is not crop predators to be damaged and provides a high dosing toxin to any pest eating the plant. Some problems arising from the use of b. Thuringiensis include developments resistant to toxin and sensitivity bacillus thuringiensis DIN on a secondary pest to which toxin do not focus.

There are other possible problems associated with the use of bacillus thuringiensis in crops, even if they are controversial. Some scientists claimed that b. Another controversial statement against b. Thuringiensis -modeled corn is that it contaminates the population of natural corn.

Last time, some scientists have proposed a possible link between bacillus thuringiensis and the collapse of the colony (CCD), which is the phenomenon in which the working bees suddenly disappear from their colony. CCD is a serious agricultural problem around the world because bees are pollinators of many important crops. None of the concerns against b. Thuringiensis was justified, but was not positively refuted by EITHER and research of long -term effects of toxin is taking place.