Correction: High Susceptibility to Cry1Ac and Low Resistance Allele Frequency Reduce the Risk of Resistance of Helicoverpa armigera to Bt Soybean in Brazil.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161388.].
Correction: High Susceptibility to Cry1Ac and Low Resistance Allele Frequency Reduce the Risk of Resistance of Helicoverpa armigera to Bt Soybean in Brazil.
PloS one 20161017 10
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161388.]. ...[more]
Project description:Transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops play an increasing role in pest control, and resistance management is a major issue in large-scale cultivation of Bt crops. The fitness cost of resistance in targeted pests is considered to be one of the main factors delaying resistance when using the refuge strategy. By comparing 10 resistant Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) strains, showing various resistance levels to Bt toxin (Cry1Ac), to a susceptible strain, we showed an increasing fitness cost corresponding with increasing levels of resistance. The relationship between overall fitness cost C and the resistance ratio Rr could be described by C = 24.47/(1 + exp([1.57 - Log10Rr]/0.2)). This model predicted that the maximum overall fitness cost would be ~24% (± 5.22) in the strains with the highest resistance level. The overall fitness cost was closely linked to egg hatching rate, fecundity, emergence rate, larval survival rate, and developmental duration of adults. Among fitness components measured, fecundity was the most sensitive trait linked to the resistance selection. To integrate the results into simulation models would be valuable in evaluating how variation in fitness cost may influence the development of resistance in pest populations, thus helping to develop enhanced refuge strategies.
Project description:Evolution of resistance by insects threatens the continued success of pest control using insecticidal crystal (Cry) proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) in sprays and transgenic plants. In this study, laboratory selection with Cry1Ac yielded five strains of cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, with resistance ratios at the median lethal concentration (LC50) of activated Cry1Ac ranging from 22 to 1700. Reduced activity and reduced transcription of an alkaline phosphatase protein that binds Cry1Ac was associated with resistance to Cry1Ac in the four most resistant strains. A Cry1Ac-binding fragment of alkaline phosphatase from H. armigera (HaALP1f) was not toxic by itself, but it increased mortality caused by Cry1Ac in a susceptible strain and in all five resistant strains. Although synergism of Bt toxins against susceptible insects by toxin-binding fragments of cadherin and aminopeptidase N has been reported previously, the results here provide the first evidence of synergism of a Bt toxin by a toxin-binding fragment of alkaline phosphatase. The results here also provide the first evidence of synergism of a Bt toxin by any toxin-binding peptide against resistant insects.
Project description:Crops genetically engineered to produce insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis have advanced pest management, but their benefits are diminished when pests evolve resistance. Elucidating the genetic basis of pest resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis toxins can improve resistance monitoring, resistance management, and the design of new insecticides. Here, we investigated the genetic basis of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis toxin Cry1Ac in the lepidopteran Helicoverpa zea, one of the most damaging crop pests in the United States. To facilitate this research, we built the first chromosome-level genome assembly for this species, which has 31 chromosomes containing 375 Mb and 15,482 predicted proteins. Using a genome-wide association study, fine-scale mapping, and RNA-seq, we identified a 250-kb quantitative trait locus on chromosome 13 that was strongly associated with resistance in a strain of Helicoverpa zea that had been selected for resistance in the field and lab. The mutation in this quantitative trait locus contributed to but was not sufficient for resistance, which implies alleles in more than one gene contributed to resistance. This quantitative trait locus contains no genes with a previously reported role in resistance or susceptibility to Bacillus thuringiensis toxins. However, in resistant insects, this quantitative trait locus has a premature stop codon in a kinesin gene, which is a primary candidate as a mutation contributing to resistance. We found no changes in gene sequence or expression consistently associated with resistance for 11 genes previously implicated in lepidopteran resistance to Cry1Ac. Thus, the results reveal a novel and polygenic basis of resistance.
Project description:Evolution of resistance by pests has diminished the efficacy of transgenic crops producing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). In China, where transgenic cotton producing Bt toxin Cry1Ac has been planted since 1997, field control failures have not been reported but the frequency of resistance to Cry1Ac has increased in the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera. This provides incentive to switch to multi-toxin Bt cotton, which is grown in many other countries. Previous work created four laboratory strains of H. armigera with >100-fold resistance to Cry1Ac, with the genetic basis of resistance known in all but the LF256 strain. Here, we analyzed the genetic basis of resistance in Cry1Ac in LF256 and evaluated cross-resistance of all four strains to three toxins produced by widely planted multi-toxin Bt cotton: Cry1Fa, Cry2Ab, and Vip3Aa. DNA sequencing revealed that LF256 lacked the mutations in three genes (HaTSPAN1, HaABCC2, and HaABCC3) that confer resistance to Cry1Ac in two other strains of H. armigera we analyzed. Together with previous results, the data reported here show that each of the four strains examined has a different genetic basis of resistance to Cry1Ac. Significant positive cross-resistance occurred to Cry1Fa in three of the four strains tested but not to Cry2Ab or Vip3Aa in any strain. Thus, Cry2Ab and Vip3Aa are likely to be especially valuable for increasing the efficacy and durability of Bt cotton against H. armigera populations that have some resistance to Cry1Ac.
Project description:An increasing area of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton is being planted in saline-alkaline soil in China. The Bt protein level in transgenic cotton plants and its control efficiency can be affected by abiotic stress, including high temperature, water deficiency and other factors. However, how soil salinity affects the expression of Bt protein, thus influencing the control efficiency of Bt cotton against the cotton bollworm (CBW) Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) in the field, is poorly understood. Our objective in the present study was to investigate the effects of soil salinity on the expression of Bt toxin (Cry1Ac) and the control efficiency of Helicoverpa armigera in field-grown transgenic Bt cotton using three natural saline levels (1.15 dS m-1 [low soil-salinity], 6.00 dS m-1 [medium soil-salinity] and 11.46 dS m-1 [high soil-salinity]). We found that the Bt protein content in the transgenic Bt cotton leaves and the insecticidal activity of Bt cotton against CBW decreased with the increasing soil salinity in laboratory experiments during the growing season. The Bt protein content of Bt cotton leaves in the laboratory were negatively correlated with the salinity level. The CBW populations were highest on the Bt cotton grown in medium-salinity soil instead of the high-salinity soil in field conditions. A possible mechanism may be that the relatively high-salinity soil changed the plant nutritional quality or other plant defensive traits. The results from this study may help to identify more appropriate practices to control CBW in Bt cotton fields with different soil salinity levels.
Project description:Toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are used widely for insect control in sprays and transgenic plants, but their efficacy is reduced when pests evolve resistance. Previous work showed that mutations in a gene encoding the transporter protein ABCC2 are linked with resistance to Bt toxins Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac or both in four species of Lepidoptera. Here we compared the ABCC2 gene of Helicoverpa armigera (HaABCC2) between susceptible strains and a laboratory-selected strain with >1,000-fold resistance to Cry1Ac relative its susceptible parent strain. We discovered a 73-base pair (bp) insertion in the cDNA of the resistant strain that generates a premature stop codon expected to yield a truncated ABCC2 protein. Sequencing of genomic DNA revealed that this insertion is an intron that is not spliced out because of a 6-bp deletion at its splicing site. Analysis of progeny from crosses revealed tight genetic linkage between HaABCC2 and resistance to Cry1Ac. These results provide the first evidence that mis-splicing of a gene encoding an ABCC2 protein confers resistance to a Bt toxin.
Project description:Spodoptera frugiperda is one of the main pests of maize and cotton in Brazil and has increased its occurrence on soybean. Field-evolved resistance of this species to Cry1 Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins expressed in maize has been characterized in Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico and southeastern U.S. Here, we conducted studies to evaluate the survival and development of S. frugiperda strains that are susceptible, selected for resistance to Bt-maize single (Cry1F) or pyramided (Cry1F/Cry1A.105/Cry2Ab2) events and F1 hybrids of the selected and susceptible strains (heterozygotes) on DAS-444Ø6-6 × DAS-81419-2 soybean with tolerance to 2,4-D, glyphosate and ammonium glufosinate herbicides (event DAS-444Ø6-6) and insect-resistant due to expression of Cry1Ac and Cry1F Bt proteins (event DAS-81419-2). Susceptible insects of S. frugiperda did not survive on Cry1Ac/Cry1F-soybean. However, homozygous-resistant and heterozygous insects were able to survive and emerge as fertile adults when fed on Cry1Ac/Cry1F-soybean, suggesting that the resistance is partially recessive. Life history studies revealed that homozygous-resistant insects had similar development, reproductive performance, net reproductive rate, intrinsic and finite rates of population increase on Cry1Ac/Cry1F-soybean and non-Bt soybean. In contrast, heterozygotes had their fertility life table parameters significantly reduced on Cry1Ac/Cry1F-soybean. Therefore, the selection of S. frugiperda for resistance to single and pyramided Bt maize can result in cross-crop resistance to DAS-444Ø6-6 × DAS-81419-2 soybean. The importance of these results to integrated pest management (IPM) and insect resistance management (IRM) programs is discussed.
Project description:The cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera is the major insect pest targeted by cotton genetically engineered to produce the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin (transgenic Bt cotton) in the Old World. The evolution of this pest's resistance to B. thuringiensis toxins is the main threat to the long-term effectiveness of transgenic Bt cotton. A deletion mutation allele (r(1)) of a cadherin gene (Ha_BtR) was previously identified as genetically linked with Cry1Ac resistance in a laboratory-selected strain of H. armigera. Using a biphasic screen strategy, we successfully trapped two new cadherin alleles (r(2) and r(3)) associated with Cry1Ac resistance from a field population of H. armigera collected from the Yellow River cotton area of China in 2005. The r(2) and r(3) alleles, respectively, were created by inserting the long terminal repeat of a retrotransposon (designated HaRT1) and the intact HaRT1 retrotransposon at the same position in exon 8 of Ha_BtR, which results in a truncated cadherin containing only two ectodomain repeats in the N terminus of Ha_BtR. This is the first time that the B. thuringiensis resistance alleles of a target insect of Bt crops have been successfully detected in the open field. This study also demonstrated that bollworm larvae carrying two resistance alleles can complete development on Bt cotton. The cadherin locus should be an important target for intensive DNA-based screening of field populations of H. armigera.
Project description:Helicoverpa armigera can develop resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which threaten the long-term success of Bt crops. In the present study, RNAseq was employed to investigate the midgut genes response to strains with different levels of resistance (LF5, LF10, LF20, LF30, LF60, and LF120) in H. armigera. Results revealed that a series of differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) were expressed significantly in resistant strains compared with the LF-susceptible strain. Nine trypsin genes, ALP2, were downregulated significantly in all the six resistant strains and further verified by qRT-PCR, indicating that these genes may be used as markers to monitor and manage pest resistance in transgenic crops. Most importantly, the differences in DEG functions in the different resistant strains revealed that different resistance mechanisms may develop during the evolution of resistance. The immune and detoxification processes appear to be associated with the low-level resistance (LF5 strain). Metabolic process-related macromolecules possibly lead to resistance to Cry1Ac in the LF10 and LF20 strains. The DEGs involved in the "proton-transporting V-type ATPase complex" and the "proton-transporting two-sector ATPase complex" were significantly expressed in the LF30 strain, probably causing resistance to Cry1Ac in the LF30 strain. The DEGs involved in binding and iron ion homeostasis appear to lead to high-level resistance in the LF60 and LF120 strains, respectively. The multiple genes and different pathways seem to be involved in Cry1Ac resistance depending on the levels of resistance. Although the mechanisms of resistance are very complex in H. armigera, a main pathway seemingly exists, which contributes to resistance in each level of resistant strain. Altogether, the findings in the current study provide a transcriptome-based foundation for identifying the functional genes involved in Cry1Ac resistance in H. armigera.
Project description:The increase in the area cultivated with vitamin-enriched transgenic crops producing Bt toxin raises the question of whether the addition of vitamins will in any way mitigates the effect of the toxin on the phytophagous insects that feed on those crops. On the other hand, the parental effect that feeding on these enriched transgenic crops may have on the offspring of the phytophagous that survive on them is not well known. In this work, the effect of vitamin A (β-carotene) addition to diets with or without Bt toxin on Helicoverpa armigera larvae and their offspring was determined. The addition of vitamin A did not have any beneficial effect either for the larvae fed on enriched diets nor for their offspring. However, parental effects due to dietary feeding with the toxin were detected since adults from larvae fed on the Bt diet had higher mating success than those fed on the toxin-free diet, although there were no differences on the fertility of mated females regardless of whether their previous larvae fed on the Bt or non-Bt diet. A certain adaptive effect to the toxin was also noted since the mortality of larvae whose previous generation fed on diet with Bt was lower than that of the larvae that came from larvae fed on a non-Bt diet. It would be interesting to determine if H. armigera adults prefer to mate and lay eggs in the same type of crops in which they have developed or if feeding on different crops, such as corn or alfalfa, causes different paternal effects on the offspring. These aspects can be of great importance in the development of resistance of this species to the Bt toxin.