Genetic diversity of Bacillus thuringiensis isolates from Cuba

Abstract: The molecular taxonomy and cry gene diversity of a set of Bacillus thuringiensis isolates stemming from different sources and provinces of Cuba has been investigated. Within the Bacillus cereus sensu lato complex, most isolates were assigned to the B. thuringiensis lineages “Kurstaki” or “Sotto” when using the pycA gene encoding pyruvate carboxylase for phylogenetic reconstruction. Targeted amplification of different cry gene variants revealed that most Bt strains in a mutually exclusive way contained either cry1 or cry4 gene copies, whereas cry3 genes were not identified. The distribution of cry genes was consistent with taxonomic assignment. The results indicate an elevated degree of local biodiversity among B. thuringiensis isolates from Cuba.