From Qutn to Bt cotton: Development, adoption and prospects. A review

• Published in: Cytology and genetics 2015-11, Vol.49 (6), p.408-419
• Main Authors: Malik, W., Abid, M. A., Cheema, H. M. N., Khan, A. A., Iqbal, M. Z., Qayyum, A., Hanif, M., Bibi, N., Yuan, S. N., Yasmeen, A., Mahmood, A., Ashraf, J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Human Genetics
• ISSN: 0095-4527; 1934-9440
• DOI: 10.3103/S0095452715060055

Cotton has unique history of domestication, diversification, and utilization. Globally it is an important cash crop that provides raw material for textile industry. The story of cotton started from human civilization and the climax arrived with the efforts of developing transgenic cotton for various traits. Though conventional breeding brought steady improvement in developing resistance against biotic stresses but recent success story of gene transfer from Bacillus thuringiensis into cotton showed game changing effects on cotton cultivation. Amongst various families of insecticidal proteins Bt Cry-toxins received more attention because of specificity against receptors on the cell membranes of insect midgut epithelial cells. Rapid Bt cotton adoption by farmers due to its economic and environmental benefits has changed the landscape of cotton cultivation in many countries. But the variable expression of Bt transgene in the newly developed Bt cotton genotypes in tropical environment is questionable. Variability of toxin level in different plant parts at various life stage of plant is an outcome of genotypic interaction with environmental factors. Temporal gene expression of Cry1Ac is also blamed for the epigenetic background in which transgene has been inserted. The presence of genotypes with sub-lethal level of Bt toxin might create resistance in Lepidopteron insects, limiting the use of Bt cotton in future, with the opportunity for other resistance development strategies to get more attention like gene stacking. Until the farmers get access to more recent technology, best option is to delay the development of resistance by applying Insect Resistance Management (IRM) strategies.