SUITABILITY OF 30 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND BY-PRODUCTS AS NUTRIENT SOURCES FOR LABORATORY PRODUCTION OF BACILLUS-THURINGIENSIS SUBSP AIZAWAI(HD133)

Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. aizawai (HD133) was grown in culture med ia in which dextrose was a common carbon source and 30 different agric ultural products and by-products were tested as the main nitrogen sour ces. These products included legumes, cereals, animal proteins, leaf p roteins, yeasts, oilseeds, tubers, and casamino acid. Of the 30 produc ts tested, cottonseed meal, defatted soy hour, and corn gluten meal we re the most efficient substrates for the production of spore-crystal b iomass and endotoxin potency. The carbohydrate/nitrogen ratios for the se additives ranged from 0.3 to 0.5 and the glutamic acid content of t heir proteins from 9.2 to 16.0%. There was no close relationship betwe en the estimates of the amounts of endotoxin produced and the potency of the product when fed to bertha armyworm, Mamestra configurata. (C) 1997 Academic Press.