Bollworm Resistant Transgenic Cotton Variety
|
|
Cotton is the most important fibre crop of India, the cultivation of which consumes enormous amount of chemical pesticides to control bollworms. Safe and eco-friendly mode of insect pest management in cotton is an important endeavour towards sustainable agriculture. Genetic engineering of cotton for the expression of Bt insecticidal proteins is a safe and well-proven strategy to reduce the consumption of pesticides. A Bt gene coding for Cry1Ac toxin was introduced in a cotton variety Bikaneri Nerma and field-tested in collaboration with the university of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. The transgenic cotton exhibited very high levels of bollworm protection. The transgenic cotton variety will be very beneficial for resource poor farmers who cannot afford to buy hybrid Bt cotton every year. Ministry of Environment and Forests has approved the environmental release of Bt cotton variety Bikaneri Nerma in May 2008.
|
|
| |
Bollworm Resistant Transgenic Cotton |
|
| |
Insect resistant transgenic brinjal |
|
Brinjal is highly susceptible to an insect pest called Brinjal shoot and Fruit Borer (BSFB), which damages the shoot tips during vegetative phase and fruits during the reproductive phase. Chemical control of BSFB is not only expensive but also ineffective. Safe and effective alternative for the management of BSFB is to express insecticidal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) by genetic engineering. A codon-optimized gene encoding a delta-endotoxin ( Cry1Fa1 ) of Bt was constructed and tested for its expression in planta . Brinjal (cv. Pusa Purple Long) was transformed with the synthetic gene under the control of a powerful constitutive promoter (CaMV35S ). Limited field tests of T-1 and T-2 progeny under containment conditions were conducted. Transgenic lines with very high-level of protection from BSFB were identified. The fruit damage in transgenic lines varied from 4-7% in contrast to 35-43% in normal fruits. |
|
| |
Transgenic & Normal Brinjal |
|
| |
|
Salinity Tolerant Transgenic Tomato |
|
Transgenic tomato has been developed with osmotin gene under the control of constitutive CaMV 35S promoter. The transgenic plants showed improved tolerance as compared to the wild type plants when subjected to salt stress under standard Phytotron conditions. The transgenics are currently undergoing contained field trials as per the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) guidelines.
|
|
| |
150 mM NaCl treatment of transgenic tomato for 25 days
|
|
|
