Engineering of Bt transgenic rice for insect pest protection

Abstract

Stem borer is a serious pest that causes considerable yield losses of rice in Asia. Pesticides have been used broadly to control this pest. Transgenic Bt rice for a wide variety of cultivation conditions have been developed and reported on earlier. Wereview work done todevelop Bt rice with multiple Bt genes that have different receptor binding domains, and with a fusion cry gene, cry1B/cry1Ab. Generation of Bt rice has been performed in different cultivars and recently in the hybrid ‘Shanyou 63’, which gains protection against four insect pests. The Bt-rice hybrid line is free of the selectable marker gene, hph, and has been successfully field evaluated in China for 4 years. Transgene pyramiding with Bt genes alone or in combination with other genes for plant protection has been developed in rice. Bt rice in Asia has the potential to provide plant protection while curbing use of pesticides and reducing yield losses from infestation. The deployment of insect protection genes using a gene pyramiding strategy is presented as a vital strategy for maximizing crop protection and countering the development of resistant pests.