Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology (한국미생물·생명공학회)
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Prevalence and Toxin Characteristics of Bacillus thuringiensis Isolated from Organic Vegetables

  • Kim, Jung-Beom (Department of Food Science and Technology, Sunchon National University) ;
  • Choi, Ok-Kyung (Division of Agricultural Inspection, Gyeonggi-do Research Institute of Health and Environment) ;
  • Kwon, Sun-Mok (Division of Agricultural Inspection, Gyeonggi-do Research Institute of Health and Environment) ;
  • Cho, Seung-Hak (Division of Bacterial Disease Research, Center for Infectious Disease Research, Korea National Institute of Health) ;
  • Park, Byung-Jae (Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, School of Bio-convergence Science and Technology, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Jin, Na Young (Department of Applied Biology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University) ;
  • Yu, Yong Man (Department of Applied Biology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University) ;
  • Oh, Deog-Hwan (Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, School of Bio-convergence Science and Technology, Kangwon National University)
  • Received : 2017.03.28
  • Accepted : 2017.07.05
  • Published : 2017.08.28
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Abstract

The prevalence and toxin characteristics of Bacillus thuringiensis isolated from 39 organic vegetables were investigated. B. thuringiensis was detected in 30 out of the 39 organic vegetables (76.9%) with a mean value of 2.60 log CFU/g. Twenty-five out of the 30 B. thuringiensis isolates (83.3%) showed insecticidal toxicity against Spodoptera exigua. The hblCDA, nheABC, and entFM genes were found to be the major toxin genes, but the ces gene was not detected in any of the tested B. thuringiensis isolates. The hemolysin BL enterotoxin was detected in all 30 B. thuringiensis isolates (100%). The non-hemolytic enterotoxin complex was found in 27 out of 30 B. thuringiensis isolates (90.0%). The B. thuringiensis tested in this study had similar toxin gene characteristics to B. cereus, which possessed more than one toxin gene. B. thuringiensis could have the potential risk of foodborne illness based on the toxin genes and toxin-producing ability.

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