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Transgenic cotton expressing synthesized scorpion insect toxin AaHIT gene confers enhanced resistance to cotton bollworm (Heliothis armigera) larvae

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Abstract

A synthetic scorpion Hector Insect Toxin (AaHIT) gene, under the control of a CaMV35S promoter, was cloned into cotton via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Southern blot analyses indicated that integration of the transgene varied from one to more than three estimated copies per genome; seven homozygous transgenic lines with one copy of the T-DNA insert were then selected by PCR and Southern blot analysis. AaHIT expression was from 0.02 to 0.43% of total soluble protein determined by western blot. These homozygous transgenic lines killed larvae of cotton bollworm (Heliothis armigera) by 44–98%. The AaHIT gene could used therefore an alternative to Bt toxin and proteinase inhibitor genes for producing transgenic cotton crops with effective control of bollworm.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the grants from the Nature Science Foundation of China (39970416), and the Science and Technology Department of Shanxi Province (041001-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cotton Research and Biotechnology Research Centre, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yuncheng, 044000, Taiyuan, 030031, P.R. China

    Jiahe Wu, Xiaoli Luo, Zhian Wang, Aihua Liang & Yi Sun

  2. National Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100080, P.R. China

    Jiahe Wu & Yingchuan Tian

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  1. Jiahe Wu
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  2. Xiaoli Luo
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  3. Zhian Wang
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  4. Yingchuan Tian
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  5. Aihua Liang
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  6. Yi Sun
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Correspondence to Yi Sun.

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Wu, J., Luo, X., Wang, Z. et al. Transgenic cotton expressing synthesized scorpion insect toxin AaHIT gene confers enhanced resistance to cotton bollworm (Heliothis armigera) larvae. Biotechnol Lett 30, 547–554 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-007-9555-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-007-9555-7

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