Effects of Extreme Air Temperature and Humidity on the Insecticidal Expression Level of Bt Cotton

作者：Yuan Chen, Yuan CHEN, Yujin Wen, Yuan CHEN, Yuan CHEN, John Tom Cothren, Xiang Zhang, Yonghui Wang, William A. Payne, De-hua CHEN · 发表于：Journal of Integrative Agriculture · 年份：2012 · DOI：10.1016/s2095-3119(12)60188-9 · 被引用次数：36 · 研究领域：Insect Resistance and Genetics、Genetically Modified Organisms Research、Insect and Pesticide Research

The higher survival rates of Helicoverpa amigera larvae were usually observed after adverse climate which was related to extreme temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) stresses in transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton. The unstable resistance of Bt cotton to bollworms has been correlated with the reduced expression of CryIAc δ-endotoxin. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of combined temperature and relative humidity stresses on the leaf CryIAc insecticidal protein expression during critical developmental stages. The study was undertaken on two transgenic cotton cultivars that share same parental background, Sikang 1 (a conventional cultivar) and Sikang 3 (a hybrid cultivar), during the 2007 and 2008 growing seasons at the Yangzhou University Farm, Yangzhou, China. The study was arranged with two factors that consisted of temperature (two levels) and relative humidity (three levels). The six T/RH treatments were 37°C/95%, 37°C/70%, 37°C/50%, 18°C/95%, 18°C/70%, and 18°C/50%. In 2007, the six treatments were imposed to the plants at peak flowering stage for 24 h; in 2008, the six treatments were applied to the plants at peak square, peak flowering, and peak boll stages for 48 h. The results of the study indicated that the leaf insecticidal protein expression in CryIAc was significantly affected by extreme temperature only at peak flowering stage, and by both extreme temperature and relative humidity during boll filling stage. The greatest re...