Because of the diverse in climatic condition, the sporulation stage of B. thuringiensis strains and the ABT-888 price presence of cry genes may vary. 16 In our report, soil has been used as a predominant source for isolation among the diverse habitats in different areas under different environmental conditions. B. thuringiensis has been isolated from soil, 17 since the spores of

the organism persist in soil itself. Even though many works were carried out using soil as a source, there is a vast area to work on diversity of species. Many scientists used stored products as a source for isolation of B. thuringiensis. 18 and 19 In this study, sixty soil samples were collected from plain areas (Salem Tamil Nadu and Kashmir) and hilly areas (Kollimalai and Yercaud Hills). Plain areas included wasteland, fertile land, agriculture land, sewage area, and graveyard. Out of 60 soil samples, B. thuringiensis isolates were obtained from only 44 soil samples. A total of 54 Bacillus colonies were isolated and sub cultured on T3 selective medium. No Bt colonies were isolated from the soil samples collected from sewage area. Identification of B. thuringiensis is mainly based on the presence of crystalline inclusions. The bright field microscopy is more useful than phase contrast microscopy for high throughput evaluation of bacterial

colonies for the presence of crystals and also for identification of small crystals. Two different types of crystal proteins were observed viz. free crystal proteins and spore attached crystal proteins. Crystals Vismodegib price of different morphologies were seen in 44 B. thuringiensis isolates by simple staining under 100× oil immersion objective. Among these (spherical and cuboidal crystals) were abundant. Similar results were reported earlier. 13 Based on the morphology

of crystals many works were already reported under different strategies. Five different structural morphologies were analyzed and only three shapes of crystals were abundant. 20 Among 79 isolates 3.8% were characterized with dark staining body which appeared as a cap on the spore and small parasporal bodies. 21 A correlation was established between the presence of plasmids and the formation of crystals SB-3CT in B. thuringiensis strains at the end of 1970s. 7 The megaplasmids were predominantly present in most of the isolates from different environments. 22 Many techniques have been optimized for extraction and purification of plasmids as these contain cry genes in host cells and are used as molecular tools. 23 Alkaline lysis method is most widely for the extraction and purification of plasmids. 24 This was one of the first biochemical method developed for obtaining plasmids of various microorganisms. 23 Although several adjustments have been made with this technique but it is still slow and laborious and contaminated with ethidium bromide. A more practical and faster protocol to obtain the plasmid DNA of B. thuringiensis was developed.