The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis is widely used in contemporary biology as a/an
The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis is widely used in contemporary biology as a/an
indicator of water pollution
insecticide
agent for production of dairy products
source of industrial enzyme
Solution
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.