Proteínas Cry de Bacillus thuringiensis y su interacción con coleópteros

Integrated Pest Management is a key plan in conservation agriculture to pest control that joins chemical and biological methods to protect crop ecosystem and surrounding natural resources (water, soil, air). Coleoptera order is an important entomological problem in commercial crops causing important losses at least up 15%. Several management strategies are used in their control such as cultural techniques, natural enemies, entomopathogens and chemical agents. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is an entomopathogenic bacteria used widely in pest insect control of Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Diptera orders. The most important virulence factor of Bt are Cry proteins. Several Cry proteins have lethal activity against coleopteran insects such as Cry1B, Cry1I, Cry3, Cry7, Cry8, Cry9, Cry14, Cry22, Cry23, Cry34, Cry35, Cry36, Cry37, Cry43 y Cry55. It has been found that Bt israelensis- like strains are active against coleopterans. In this review we show the most important determinants with relationship to biological activity of Bt against coleopteran-pests