Biology of Bacillus popilliae
1978
Bulla, L.A. Jr | Costilow, R.N. | Sharpe, E.S.
Knowledge of the biology of Bacillus popilliae, a pathogen of various scarabaeid beetles that causes 'milky disease' in the larvae, is reviewed and discussed. The bacterium is gram-variable, facultatively anaerobic, catalaseless, and forms endospores as well as parasporal crystals. Some unpublished data suggest that some pathogenic effect is associated with the crystals, but the inclusion bodies are still incompletely characterised and the mechanism by which infected larvae are killed is not yet known. Moreover, is it not known what factor or factors regulate sporulation, and more research is therefore needed to develop a satisfactory method for the commercial production of spores of B. popilliae.
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