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Small microcapsules of crystal proteins and spores of Bacillus thuringiensis by an emulsification/internal gelation method

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An Erratum to this article was published on 21 April 2011

Abstract

This paper describes a microencapsulation process of a spore crystal aggregate produced by Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki HD-1. The methodology is based on the emulsification/internal gelation method, and was implemented to produce microcapsules of small diameter (<10 μm) with the capacity to protect the spore crystal aggregate from extreme ultraviolet radiation. The diameter of microcapsules was in the range of 3.1 ± 0.2–6.8 ± 0.4 μm, which is considered adequate for biological control purposes. The protective effect of the alginate coat was verified by the remaining 60 ± 2% and 40 ± 1% of spore viability and protein activity, respectively, after UV-B radiation of 236 J, and with bioassays with Spodoptera frugiperda. It is expected that the protective effect of the alginate coat will improve the effectiveness of the Bt-HD1 formulated as small diameter microcapsules, and their yield, once they are released into the environment, will also be improved.

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Abbreviations

Bt :

Bacillus thuringiensis

Bt-HD1:

Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki HD1

\( C_{{{\text{cacl}}_{2} }} \) :

Concentration of calcium chloride (M)

C SALG :

Concentration of sodium alginate (%)

C Cry,ipc :

Concentration of the crystal proteins at the beginning of the microencapsulation process

C Cry,fpc :

Concentration of the crystal proteins released from the microcapsules

D MC :

Diameter of microcapsules (μm)

D mp :

Diameter of marine propeller (cm)

E :

Efficiency of the microencapsulation process (%)

SCA:

Spore crystal protein aggregate

Sporesrad-count :

Count of spores irradiated (free or microencapsulated), spores/mL

Sporesinit-count :

Count of spores non irradiated (free or microencapsulated), spores/mL

UV:

Ultraviolet radiation

UV-B:

Ultraviolet radiation of medium wavelength

UV-C:

Ultraviolet radiation of short wavelength

V spores :

Viability of spores (%)

v :

stirring speed (rpm)

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Acknowledgments

Authors wish to thank to the Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Cinvestav-IPN) for the financial support through the project Multi-05 and Laura Patricia Lina (UAEM) for her technical support with bioassays.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, CINVESTAV, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 2508. CP. 07360, P.O. Box 14-740, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco D.F., 07000, Mexico

    Karina García-Gutiérrez, Héctor M. Poggy-Varaldo, Fernando Esparza-García & Josefina Barrera-Cortés

  2. Departamento de Bioquímica, CINVESTAV, Unidad Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

    Jorge Ibarra-Rendón

Authors
  1. Karina García-Gutiérrez
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  2. Héctor M. Poggy-Varaldo
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  3. Fernando Esparza-García
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  4. Jorge Ibarra-Rendón
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  5. Josefina Barrera-Cortés
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Josefina Barrera-Cortés.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00449-011-0538-7

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García-Gutiérrez, K., Poggy-Varaldo, H.M., Esparza-García, F. et al. Small microcapsules of crystal proteins and spores of Bacillus thuringiensis by an emulsification/internal gelation method. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 34, 701–708 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-011-0519-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-011-0519-x

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