Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a Gram-positive rod-shape bacterium that during its sporulation phase produces a parasporal inclusion formed by Cry proteins having biological activity against pest insects. Because of these proteins, Bt shows toxicity toward pest insect larvae of Lepidoptera, Co-leoptera and Diptera orders among others, besides of friendly with the environment, and for this reason Bt has a very common use for commercial products and transgenic plants with Cry protein basis in agriculture. In this review is described the most important Bt factors and their application as biotechnological tool in agrobusiness, considering Bt bioassays.

En Colombia el cultivo de papa es el cuarto en importancia en la economía del país, y su producción alcanza las 300 millones de toneladas aproximadamente. Erwinia carotovora es una bacteria Gram negativa, anaeróbica facultativa causante de la pudrición blanda de la papa, puede llegar a generar hasta el 100% de daño en la cosecha, lo cual ocasiona grandes pérdidas económicas. Se ha establecido que la bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis es capaz de suprimir la virulencia de E. caratovora debido a que produce N-acil homoserina-lactonasa, una potente enzima que degrada de N acilhomoserinolactonas, que son indispensables en el mecanismo de quorum-sensing de E. caratovora. Esta circunstancia, puede ser una alternativa importante para el control de la enfermedad de la pudrición blanda de la papa. Considerando lo anterior, en este artículo se describe el proceso que emplea la bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis para inhibir la actividad de E. caratovora.

In Colombia the potato crop is the fourth in importance in the economy of the country, its production reached 300 million tons. Erwinia carotovora is a Gram-negative bacterium, facultative anaerobic which causes the soft rotting of the potato; it can potentially generate up to 100% damage in the crop, which causes large economic losses. It has been established that the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis is able to suppress the virulence of E. caratovora because it produces N-acyl-homoserine-lactonasa, a powerful enzyme that degrades of N-acyl-homoserinolactonas, which are indispensable in the quorum-sensing mechanism of E. caratovora. This can be an important alternative for the control of the disease of the soft rotting of the potato. Considering the above, this article describes the process used by the bacterium B. thuringiensis to inhibit the activity of E. caratovora.

Agricultural production in the Colombian Orinoco is affected by the high aluminum content found in 4.5 million hectares. Genotypes of different species have acquired different levels of tolerance and signaling pathways through various mechanisms, making a single model impossible. Some of the molecules commonly involved in the tolerance response have already been identified. To identify candidate genes to produce aluminum-tolerant cultivars, we consulted scientific articles published between 1987 and 2013. We obtained data of aluminum-tolerant materials and molecular mechanisms for tolerance through reports of techniques using hybridization, mutation, molecular marker-assisted selection and gene transfer. We found several reports on wholly or partially characterized genes with potential use in genetic engineering and in marker assisted selection to obtain aluminum tolerant genotypes.