Question

Which is a microbial insecticide?
A. Bacillus thuringiensis
B. B. subtilis
C. B. polymixa
D. B. brevis

Answer 1

Hint: The microbial insecticides are those microorganisms or the products of the microorganisms that are capable of attacking and killing pest insects. This may be considered to be an aspect of biological control, but when one is dealing with the products of such microbes the control may be termed as chemical.

Complete answer: The Bacillus thuringiensis is known as the most successful microbial insecticide against the different orders of insect pests in agriculture as well as in medicine. Moreover, these toxin genes also have been efficiently used to enhance resistance to insect pests in genetically modified crops. Bacillus thuringiensis is the bacteria that act as the biological insecticide. lt features include the toxicity against nematodes, antagonistic effects against the plant, and the animal pathogenic bacteria and fungi. This review comprehensively describes the recent advances in the Bacillus thuringiensis whole-genome studies; the last updated known Bacillus thuringiensis toxins and their functions, and the application of cry genes in the plant genetic engineering. Moreover, this review thoroughly describes the new features of the Bacillus thuringiensis which make it a suitable cell factory that might be used for the production of the different bioproducts.
Therefore, the correct answer is option A.

Note: There are several advantages to using Bacillus thuringiensis. Bacillus thuringiensis only kills harmful insects, unlike many other insecticides. It does not kill beneficial insects such as the honeybees and the other pollinators. Also, it's not toxic to humans, wildlife, or pets.
Because of this, it is used on many food crops and other sensitive crops where pesticides might harm the consumer or the local wildlife.