Insecticidal Activity of Actinomycetes Isolated from Salt Range, Pakistan against Mosquitoes and Red Flour Beetle

A total of fifty-one actinomycetes strains were selectively isolated on glycerol casein KNO3 agar and actinomycetes isolation agar (AIA). The isolates were screened for the production of insecticidal and larvicidal compounds against 3rd instar larvae of mosquitoes Culex quinquefasciatus and Tribolium castaneum (Red flour bettle). The biological screening revealed the metabolites of three isolates exhibit 100% mortality of the tested larvae. In chemical screening by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and HPLC-UV, the crude extracts obtained from the culture broths of these isolates, exhibited an impressive diversity of the chemical constituents. The selected isolates SA-10BC, SA-9K and SA-9L were characterized for their morphological, biochemical, physiological and cultural characteristics and by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The the selected isolates show maximum genetic similarity with Streptomyces rochei (99%), Streptomyces minutiscleroticus (98%) and Streptomyces phaeoluteigrisseus (92%) respectively.