ArticleFEMS microbiology ecology2017
In defense of Bacillus thuringiensis, the safest and most successful microbial insecticide available to humanity - a response to EFSA.
Article in FEMS microbiology ecology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed.
- Profiling ofJournal of agricultural and food chemistry · 2026Article
- Rethinking microbial biopesticide development and uptake.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Review
- Pathogenesis of human-derivedFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Combined use of Chrysoperla rufilabris (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) and Cry3Aa for improved control of Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2025Article
- Exploring the diversity and genomics of cultivableFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Bacillus thuringiensis Cry5, Cry21, App6 and Xpp55 proteins to control Meloidogyne javanica and M. incognita.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2024Article
- Comparison of the performance of multiple whole-genome sequence-based tools for the identification ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2024Article
- Reply to Berry, C. Factors Related toLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Factors Related toLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The role ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
- An Alkaline Foregut Protects Herbivores from Latex in Forage, but Increases Their Susceptibility to Bt Endotoxin.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Thurincin H Is a Nonhemolytic Bacteriocin of Bacillus thuringiensis with Potential for Applied Use.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2023Article
- Group Selection as a Basis for Screening Mutagenized Libraries of Public Goods (Bacillus thuringiensis Cry Toxins).Applied and environmental microbiology · 2023Article
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- Intraspecific Diversity and Pathogenicity ofToxins · 2023Article
- Elucidating the genomic history of commercially usedFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Article
- Signatures of selection in core and accessory genomes indicate different ecological drivers of diversification among Bacillus cereus clades.Molecular ecology · 2022Article
- Genomic Sequencing of Bacillus cereus Sensu Lato Strains Isolated from Meat and Poultry Products in South Africa Enables Inter- and Intranational Surveillance and Source Tracking.Microbiology spectrum · 2022Article
- Performance Testing ofFoods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The Bacillus cereus group contains vertebrate pathogens such as Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus and the invertebrate pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis. Microbial biopesticides based on B. thuringiensis (Bt) are widely recognized as being among the safest and least environmentally damaging insecticidal products available. Nevertheless, a recent food poisoning incident prompted a European Food Safety Authority review which argued that B. thuringiensis poses a health risk equivalent to B. cereus, a causative agent of diarrhoea. However, a critical examination of available data, and this latest incident, provide no solid evidence that B. thuringiensis causes diarrhoea. Although relatively high levels of B. cereus-like spores can occur in foods, genotyping demonstrates that these are predominantly naturally-occurring strains rather than biopesticides. Moreover, MLST genotyping of > 2000 isolates show that biopesticide genotypes have never been isolated from any clinical infection. MLST data demonstrate that Bacillus cereus group is heterogeneous and formed of distinct clades with substantial differences in biology, ecology and host association. The group posing the greatest risk (the anthracis clade) is distantly related to the clade containing all biopesticides. These recent data support the long-held view that B. thuringiensis, and especially the strains used in Bt biopesticides, are very safe for humans.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.