Abstract:
Transgenic tomato plants of south Indian cultivar A
rka Vikas were developed using
Agrobacterium
strain EHA 105, harbouring Bt
Cry2A
gene with a construct containing
35S CaMV promoter, OCS terminator and
nptII
selectable marker, through
Agrobacterium
-mediated transformation. This study was conducted
to improve the
regeneration and transformation protocol for south
Indian cultivar Arka Vikas.
Hypocotyl was used as explant source for transforma
tion due to high regeneration
efficiency, molecular analysis through PCR for puta
tive transformants in T
0
generation
and qualitative ELISA method was performed for Bt p
rotein expression followed by
insect bioassays. Insect bioassay studies was condu
cted using neonate larva of
helicoverpa
armigera
to screen the plants and the plants expressing good
resistance with molecular
and phenotypic characters were carried further for
successive generations. The
experimental results concluded that Bt gene was dep
loyed in tomato cultivar successfully
and had developed resistance to neonate larva of
Helicoverpa armigera
at laboratory
conditions. These results signified that transgenic
lines expressed substantial quantity of
Bt
Cry2A
protein efficient in management of
Helicoverpa armigera
. Precise screening of
transgenic T
1
lines is highly important to obtain single copy num
ber plants since the
expression of Bt protein in successive generations
promotes effective management of this
pest in the future.
Keywords:
Agrobacterium, Bt Cry2A, Helicoverpa armigera, Tran
sformation.
