Evolution of Asian Corn Borer Resistance to Bt Toxins Used Singly or in Pairs
Yueqin Wang,
Yudong Quan,
Jing Yang,
Changlong Shu,
Zhenying Wang,
Jie Zhang,
Angharad M. R. Gatehouse,
Bruce E. Tabashnik,
Kanglai He
Affiliations
Yueqin Wang
The State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Yudong Quan
The State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Jing Yang
The State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Changlong Shu
The State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Zhenying Wang
The State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Jie Zhang
The State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Angharad M. R. Gatehouse
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Bruce E. Tabashnik
Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Kanglai He
The State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Transgenic crops producing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have revolutionized pest control, but the benefits of this approach have been reduced by the evolution of resistance in pests. The widely adopted ’pyramid strategy’ for delaying resistance entails transgenic crops producing two or more distinct toxins that kill the same pest. The limited experimental evidence supporting this strategy comes primarily from a model system under ideal conditions. Here we tested the pyramid strategy under nearly worst-case conditions, including some cross-resistance between the toxins in the pyramid. In a laboratory selection experiment with an artificial diet, we used Bt toxins Cry1Ab, Cry1F, and Cry1Ie singly or in pairs against Ostrinia furnacalis, one of the most destructive pests of corn in Asia. Under the conditions evaluated, pairs of toxins did not consistently delay the evolution of resistance relative to single toxins.
