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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2017

Do Multi-year Applications of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp israelensis for Control of Mosquito Larvae Affect the Abundance of B-cereus Group Populations in Riparian Wetland Soils?

Schneider, Salome; Tajrin, Tania; Lundstrom, Jan O.; Hendriksen, Niels B.; Melin, Petter; Sundh, Ingvar

Abstract

Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti) is a soil-borne bacterium affiliated to the Bacillus cereus group (Bcg) and has been used in biocontrol products against nematoceran larvae for several decades. However, knowledge is limited on whether long-term Bti application can affect the structure of indigenous communities of Bcg and the overall abundance of Bti. Using species- and group-specific quantitative PCR assays, we measured the Bcg- and Bti-abundances in riparian wetlands in the River Dalalven floodplains of central Sweden. On five occasions during one vegetative season, soil samples were collected in alder swamps and wet meadows which had been treated with Bti for mosquito larvae control during the preceding 11 years, as well as in untreated control sites and well-drained forests in the same area. The average abundance of Bcg in alder swamps was around three times higher than in wet meadows. Across all sites and habitats, the Bti treatments had no effect on the Bcg-abundance, whereas the Bti-abundance was significantly higher in the treated than in the control sites. However, for individual sampling sites, abundances of Bti and Bcg were not correlated with the number of Bti applications, indicating that added Bti possibly influenced the total population of Bti in the short term but had only a limited effect in the longer term. The findings of this study increase the understanding of the ecology of Bti applications for mosquito control, which can facilitate environmental risk assessment in connection with approval of microbiological control agents.

Keywords

Bacteria; Biological control; Mosquito larvae; qPCR; Long-term effect; Sweden

Published in

Microbial Ecology
2017, Volume: 74, number: 4, pages: 901-909
Publisher: SPRINGER

      SLU Authors

    • Schneider, Salome

        • Associated SLU-program

          SLU Plant Protection Network

          UKÄ Subject classification

          Ecology
          Microbiology

          Publication identifier

          DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-017-1004-0

          Permanent link to this page (URI)

          https://res.slu.se/id/publ/93041