Bacillus thuringiensis is a Gram-positive, soil dwelling bacterium of the genusBacillus. Additionally, B. thuringiensis also occurs naturally in the caterpillars of some moths and butterflies, as well as on the surface of plants.B. thuringiensis was discovered 1901 in Japan by Ishiwata and 1911 in Germany by Ernst Berliner, who discovered a disease called Schlaffsucht in flour moth caterpillars. B. thuringiensis is closely related to B. cereus, a soil bacterium, and B. anthracis, the cause of anthrax: the three organisms differ mainly in their plasmids. Like other members of the genus, all three are aerobes capable of producing endospores.
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