Effect of soil salinity on insecticidal protein expression in flower buds of Bt cotton.

Abstract

To clarify the effects of soil salinity on the insect-resistance of flower buds in transgenic Bt cotton of Xinmian 33B (salt-sensitive) and Zhong 07 (salt-tolerant), five levels (0, 0.15%, 0.30%, 0.45% and 0.60%) of soil salinity were set to investigate the impacts of soil salinity on Bt protein content, relative expression of Bt gene, activities of nitrogen metabolism-related enzymes and substances in flower buds during flowering stage. The results showed that Bt protein contents of flower buds decreased with increasing soil salinity. The Bt protein contents of flower buds decreased significantly when the soil salinity level was above 0.30% in both cotton cutivars. Greater reduction of Bt protein content occurred under severe than moderate soil salinity stress. However, the relative expression of Cry1Ac gene increased in flower buds of both cultivars when the stress level increased. Greater decreases of Bt protein content of flower buds was observed in Xinmian 33B compared to Zhong 07 under the same salinity level. The cultivars with greater reduction in Bt protein contents of flower buds also had greater reduction in the soluble protein content, glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) activities, and greater increments in free amino acid contents, protease activities and peptidase activities. Therefore, the decrease of Bt protein content was caused by decreased synthesis and increased decomposition of protein in flower buds of Bt cotton under soil salinity stress.