Abstract
Embryogenic calli of cotton (Coker310) were cocultivated with the Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 harbouring the codon-optimised, chimeric cry2AX1 gene consisting of sequences from cry2Aa and cry2Ac genes isolated from Indian strains of Bacillus thuringiensis. Forty-eight putative transgenic plants were regenerated, and PCR analysis of these plants revealed the presence of the cry2AX1 gene in 40 plants. Southern blot hybridisation analysis of selected transgenic plants confirmed stable T-DNA integration in the genome of transformed plants. The level of Cry2AX1 protein expression in PCR positive plants ranged from 4.9 to 187.5 ng g-1 of fresh tissue. A transgenic cotton event, TP31, expressing the cry2AX1 gene showed insecticidal activity of 56.66 per cent mortality against Helicoverpa armigera in detached leaf disc bioassay. These results indicate that the chimeric cry2AX1 gene expressed in transgenic cotton has insecticidal activity against H. armigera.
Highlights
Cotton is one of the most important crop species, valued around the world by the textile industry
The transformation and regeneration of cotton via somatic embryogenesis is a long process, and cotton remains one of the recalcitrant species to be manipulated in culture (Wilkins et al 2000)
Somatic embryogenesis in cotton is hampered by its extended culture period, low frequency of embryos, and high incidence of abnormal embryos (Kumria et al 2003)
Summary
Cotton is one of the most important crop species, valued around the world by the textile industry. Transgenic cotton expressing insecticidal proteins from Bt has been one of the most rapidly adopted GE crops in the world (James 2012, Lu et al 2012). The codon-optimised synthetic cry2AX1 gene was used in cotton transformation to develop cotton plants exhibiting insecticidal activity against H. armigera.
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