title: Evaluation of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) rice varieties against stem borer (Chilo suppressalis).
abstract: Three transgenic rice varieties namely Khazar, Neda and Nemat, all containing a cry1Ab gene, were evaluated through PCR analysis and field examinations for their resistance at natural infestation of insect pests during 2007. The results showed that all transgenic varieties produced 1.2 kb PCR product derived from application of cry1Ab gene. In field conditions, transgenic varieties exhibited high levels of resistance against natural infestation of stem borer and the damaged plants based on dead heart or white heat for them were less than 1%. Moreover, in stem-cut bioassay 100% of released larvae died within four days after infestation. These results demonstrate that expression of cry1Ab gene in the genome of transgenic varieties provided season-long protection from the natural infestation of lepidopteran insects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Rice and Citrus Research Institute, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Ghaffar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kiani
authors.forename: Ghorban Ali
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Nematzadeh
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ghareyazie
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sattari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000378:metabolism*; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified