AFLP fingerprinting and genotypic characterization of some serovars of Bacillus thuringiensis

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)-based fingerprinting of 24 se rovars of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) representing different serotypes was performed using 13 EcoR1 (+2) and Mse1 (+3) primer combinations for genotyp ic characterization. A high degree of polymorphism was established among th e Bt serovars. A total of 1107 fragments ranging from 30-850 bp were genera ted out of which 1106 were polymorphic. Discrimination rates of different p rimer combinations at various band levels (1-5) among different Bt serovars were more than 90%. Cluster analysis revealed very low similarity values, ranging from 7-50%, among the Bt serovars indicating their remarkable genet ic diversity. AFLP analysis establishes the molecular relatedness between t he serovars and serotypes.