title: Cotton plants expressing a hemipteran-active Bacillus thuringiensis crystal protein impact the development and survival of Lygus hesperus (Hemiptera: Miridae) nymphs.
abstract: The plant bugs Lygus hesperus Knight (Hemiptera: Miridae) and L. lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) have emerged as economic pests of cotton in the United States. These hemipteran species are refractory to the insect control traits found in genetically modified commercial varieties of cotton. In this article, we report the isolation and characterization of a 35 kDa crystal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis, designated TIC807, which causes reduced mass gain and mortality of L. hesperus and L. lineolaris nymphs when presented in an artificial diet feeding assay. Cotton plants expressing the TIC807 protein were observed to impact the survival and development of L. hesperus nymphs in a concentration-dependent manner. These results, demonstrating in planta activity of a Lygus insecticidal protein, represent an important milestone in the development of cotton varieties protected from Lygus feeding damage.
authors.affiliation: Monsanto Company, 700 Chesterfield Parkway West, Chesterfield, MO 63017, USA. james.a.baum@monsanto.com
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Baum
authors.forename: Uma R
authors.initials: UR
authors.lastname: Sukuru
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Penn
authors.forename: Steven E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Shubha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Subbarao
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Stanislaw
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Flasinski
authors.forename: Gregory R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Heck
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000502:physiology; D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D004032:Diet; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D003368:Gossypium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000633:toxicity; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000254:growth & development*; D009758:Nymph / Q000254:growth & development; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000633:toxicity*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004731:Endotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; C030956:insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis