It could be adapted to grow in flowers or filberts during Oregon's cool spring or early summer. The bacteria is probably of the genus Serratia because of HPLC lipid composition, color, and ability to grow in the cold. The bacteria in culture was sensitive to rifampicin, chloramphenicol, polymyxin b, streptomycin, and EDTA, but not sensitive to penicillin, ampicillin, lysozyme, and phoratoxin. Small molecular weight proteins with oral toxicity to insects useful for germplasm improvement by biotransformation. Since they are proteins, they safely biodegrade to amino acids.
Insect numbers involved in any field use are potentially very large.
Insect resistance to insecticidal proteins is complex. In a worst-case scenario, experienced field scientists estimate that Bt resistance could appear as little as two years after widespread use. The significance of this is that it demonstrates that it is possible to determine relative chill resistance by microcalorimetry. Using this method, diverse germplasm may be screened for these properties. CAM type photosynthetic enzymes have controls which are compatible with biotransformation to C-4 type plants.