Identification and characterization of the new Bacillus thuringiensis serovars pirenaica (serotype H57) and iberica (serotype H59)

Two new Bacillus thuringiensis strains have been classified by the H antige n of the cells and differentiated by their morphological, biochemical and m olecular characteristics. The flagellar agglutination showed that both stra ins bore specific H antigens which allowed their classification as the new serotypes H57 and H59. The serovar names proposed for the type strains char acterized in this work are B. thuringiensis ser. pirenaica, for the H serot ype 57, and B. thuringiensis ser. iberica, for the H serotype 59. Further c haracterization of these strains, by means of SDS-PAGE, Western inmunodetec tion, plasmid profile and cry-gene identification by polymerase chain react ion, confirmed the originality of the two novel serotypes. Toxicity tests c arried out against several insect species, belonging to the orders Lepidopt era, Diptera and Coleoptera, showed no detectable insecticidal activity for either of the B. thuringiensis strains.