Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), soil-dwelling bacterium that naturally produces a toxin that is fatal to certain herbivorous insects. The toxin produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been used as an insecticide spray since the 1920s and is commonly used in organic farming.
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is also the source of the genes used to genetically modify a number of food crops so that they produce the toxin on their own to deter various insect pests.
The toxin is lethal to several orders of insects, including Lepidoptera (butterflies, moths, and skippers), Diptera (flies), and Coleoptera (beetles), though a number of Bt strains are available to make its use more target-specific.
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