Comparative bioefficacy of Bacillus and Pseudomonas chitinase against Helopeltis theivora in tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O.Kuntze

Abstract Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O.Kuntze) is an
industry-oriented economical crop in India. Among the sap
sucking pests, tea mosquito bug (Helopeltis theivora) is
one of the most serious pests causing heavy crop loss in tea
plantation. Continuous use of chemical pesticides causes
environmental pollution and health hazards besides devel-
oping pesticide residues in tea powder. The control of pest
by bacterial metabolite is an alternative that may contributeto reduce or eliminate the chemical pesticide use. The useof chitinase as a biological control is an emerging field ofresearch. In the present study, Chitinase (* 25 kDa) waspurified from Bacillus cereus C-13 strain using gel-filtra-tion chromatography and further characterized for its
optimum pH, temperature and substrate specificity. Bioef-
ficacy of chitinase from B. cereus C-13 was compared with