Bacterium still a major source of crop pesticide
Excerpt from the April 30, 1966, issue of Science News
SHIELDED The bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, Bt, make a natural insecticide that kills pest larvae chowing down on crops. Today, plants are genetically engineered to produce the bacterial toxin. Lesser cornstalk borer larvae can ravage a peanut plant (above, right), but a plant with Bt genes kills hungry pests, protecting the plant (left; dead larva visible to right of plant).
Herb Pilcher/USDA Agricultural Research Service
Bacterium effective when dusted on plants — The successful agent for destroying pesty insects, the microscopic bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, is most effective when it is dusted onto tobacco or other plants….