Vincent Sanchis, Laure El Chamy, Joël Chopineau, Rafael Patiño-Navarrete, Nancy Fayad, Mandy Antoun, Zakaria Kambris, Mireille Kallassy Awad, Jacques Mahillon, Mike A. Osta, MICrobiologie de l'ALImentation au Service de la Santé (MICALIS), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech, Centre de génétique moléculaire (CGM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Biology, American University of Beirut [Beyrouth] (AUB), Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier - Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux de Montpellier (ICGM ICMMM), Université Montpellier 1 (UM1)-Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques (UM2)-Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier (ENSCM)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratory of Food and Environmental Microbiology, Earth and Life Institute [Louvain-La-Neuve] (ELI), Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL)-Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Réponse immunitaire et developpement chez les insectes (RIDI - UPR 9002), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut de biologie moléculaire et cellulaire (IBMC), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Unité de Génétique Microbienne et Environnement (UR1249), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Département de Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth (USJ), Univ St Joseph Beyrouth, Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), Université de Nîmes (UNIMES), Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier (ENSCM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Université Montpellier 1 (UM1)-Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques (UM2)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC), Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain (UCL)-Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), Génétique de La Drosophile Et Virulence Microbienne (GDVM), Lebanese national council for scientific research (CNRS-L) Universite Montpellier 2 research council of Saint-Joseph University FS59AUB-URB, and UCL - SST/ELI/ELIM - Applied Microbiology
The demand for sustainable and eco-friendly control methods of pests and insects is increasing worldwide. From this came the interest in Bacillus thuringiensis, an entomopathogenic bacterium capable of replacing chemical pesticides. However, the possibility of pests developing resistance to a particular strain may impair its use, and there is a need to identify novel strains of this species as potential commercial biopesticides. B. thuringiensis sv. israelensis is one of the most successful serovars, widely commercialized for its activity against black fly and mosquito larvae. In this study, we isolated, characterized, and sequenced a new Lebanese B. thuringiensis sv. israelensis isolate, strain AR23. Compared to the commercialized reference strain AM65-52 (Vectobac®, Sumitomo), AR23 showed an increased activity against several mosquito species. The genomic analysis revealed that this strain, compared to AM65-52, possesses a simplified plasmid content and an additional functional cry4Ba coding gene that most likely accounts for the increased effectiveness of this strain in mosquito larvae killing.