Phylogenic and antagonistic characteristics of novel Bacillus cereus isolates against desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria Forskal (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Abstract

Thirty bacterial strains were successfully isolated from dead/diseased nymphs of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria Forskal (Orthoptera: Acrididae) occurred in rearing cages at Locust and Grasshoppers Research Department, Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt. Among them, two isolates, DL3 and DL4, showed a high biocidal activity against locust at preliminary bracketing bioassay. Molecular identification of the two bacterial isolates was carried out by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene and nucleotide blast of international GenBank, and the results showed that DL3 isolate was Bacillus cereus (KY630646) and DL4 isolate was Bacillus cereus (KY630647) with a 100% similarity with Bacillus cereus strain SZAN-2 (GU222440) and Bacillus cereus strain KPRR3 (KY556439), respectively. The insecticidal activity of both isolates against locust nymphs using leaf dipping and per os techniques proved that DL4 isolate was more efficient than DL3 and both of them have the potential to be successful biocidal agents to control desert locust.