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Bacillus thuringiensis beyond insect biocontrol: plant growth promotion and biosafety of polyvalent strains

  • Ecological and Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

The entomopathogenic bacteriumBacillus thuringiensis is widely used for the control of many agricultural insect pests and vectors of human diseases. Several studies reported also on its antibacterial and antifungal activities. However, to our knowledge there were no studies dealing with its capacity to act as a plant growth promoting bacterium. This review surveys the potential ofB. thuringiensis as a polyvalent biocontrol agent, a biostimulator and biofertiliser bacterium that could promote the plant growth. Also, discussed is the safety ofB. thuringiensis as a bacterium phylogenetically related toBacillus cereus the opportunistic human pathogen andBacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Alimentari e Microbiologiche, Università degli Studi, via Celoria 2, 20133, Milano, Italy

    Noura Raddadi, Massimo Marzorati, Lorenzo Brusetti & Daniele Daffonchio

  2. Laboratoire Microorganismes et Biomolecule Actives, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, 2092, Tunis, Tunisia

    Ameur Cherif, Hadda Ouzari & Abdellatif Boudabous

Authors
  1. Noura Raddadi
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  2. Ameur Cherif
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  3. Hadda Ouzari
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  4. Massimo Marzorati
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  5. Lorenzo Brusetti
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  6. Abdellatif Boudabous
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  7. Daniele Daffonchio
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Correspondence to Daniele Daffonchio.

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Raddadi, N., Cherif, A., Ouzari, H. et al. Bacillus thuringiensis beyond insect biocontrol: plant growth promotion and biosafety of polyvalent strains. Ann. Microbiol. 57, 481–494 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03175344

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03175344

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