Pyramiding of Bt genes in white cabbage is an effective strategy to control diamondback moth (DBM) infestation, says research in Journal of Plant Biotechnology conducted by Dengxia Yi from China Agricultural University and colleagues. Two plasmids with cry1Ia8 and cry1Ba3 genes from Bacillus thuringiensis were introduced to white cabbage through Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation.

This led to the generation of 14 kanamycin-resistant plantlets. The presence of the transgenes in the plantlets was confirmed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Southern blot, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and Western blot analyses. Further analysis showed that the GE plants were able to control both susceptible and Cry1Ac-resistant DBM larvae as compared to non-GE counterparts.

The GE plants were further subjected to self-pollination and molecular methods producing 10 homozygous insect resistant cabbage lines. These lines were placed in greenhouse and field conditions with natural infestation of DBM and showed excellent efficacy against the pest. Field trials data also indicated that there were no significant differences in most agronomic characteristics of the homozygous lines and the original variety of white cabbage.

Read the research article at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11240-013-0373-4