Zoology - Biotechnology and Its Applications Question with Solution | TestHub

Bacitlus thuringiensis is a Gram-positive, soil dwelling bacterium, also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types of moths and butterflies. During sporulation, B. thuringiensis forms crystals of proteinaceous insecticidal by cry genes. It was determined that the oy genes are harbored in the plasmids of $B$. thuringiensis strains. Cry toxins have specific activities against species of the orderLepidoptera (moths and butterflies), Diptera (flies and mosquitoes) and Coleoptera (beetles). Thus, $B$. thuringiensis serves as an important reservoir of cry toxins and cry genes for the production of biological insecticides and insect resistant genetically modified crops.