Bt cotton

• Bt cotton is a genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically modified pest

resistant plant cotton variety, which produces an insecticide to combat bollworm.
Helicoverpa armigera.
• Strains of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produce over 200 different Bt toxins,
each harmful to different insects. Most notably, Bt toxins are insecticidal to the larvae
of moths and butterflies, beetles, cotton bollworms and flies but are harmless to other
forms of life.[1] The gene coding for Bt toxin has been inserted into cotton as a 
transgene, causing it to produce this natural insecticide in its tissues. In many regions,
the main pests in commercial cotton are lepidopteran larvae, which are killed by the
Bt protein in the genetically modified cotton they eat. This eliminates the need to use
large amounts of broad-spectrum insecticides to kill lepidopteran pests (some of
which have developed pyrethroid resistance). This spares natural insect predators in
the farm ecology and further contributes to noninsecticide pest management.
• Mechanism
• Bt cotton was created through the addition of genes encoding toxin crystals in the Cry
group of endotoxin.[1] When insects attack and eat the cotton plant the Cry toxins or
crystal protein are dissolved due to the high pH level of the insect's stomach. The
dissolved and activated Cry molecules bond to cadherin-like proteins on cells
comprising the brush border molecules.[1] The epithelium of the brush border
membranes separates the body cavity from the gut while allowing access for
nutrients. The Cry toxin molecules attach themselves to specific locations on the
cadherin-like proteins present on the epithelial cells of the midge and ion channels are
formed which allow the flow of potassium.[1] Regulation of potassium concentration is
essential and, if left unchecked, causes death of cells. Due to the formation of Cry ion
channels sufficient regulation of potassium ions is lost and results in the death of
epithelial cells. The death of such cells creates gaps in the brush border membrane.
• History
• Bt cotton was first approved for field trials in the United States in 1993, and
first approved for commercial use in the United States in 1995.[3] Bt cotton
was approved by the Chinese government in 1997.[4]
• In 2002, a joint venture between Monsanto and Mahyco introduced Bt cotton
to India.[5]
• In 2011, India grew the largest GM cotton crop at 10.6 million hectares. The
U.S. GM cotton crop was 4.0 million hectares, the second largest area in the
world, followed by China with 3.9 million hectares and Pakistan with 2.6
million hectares.[6] By 2014, 96% of cotton grown in the United States was
genetically modified[7] and 95% of cotton grown in India was GM.[8] India is
the largest producer of cotton, and GM cotton, as of 2014.
• Advantages
• Bt cotton has several advantages over non-Bt cotton. The important advantages of Bt cotton are briefly :
• Increases yield of cotton due to effective control of three types of bollworms, viz. American, Spotted and Pink
bollworms.
• Insects belonged to Lepidoptera (Bollworms) are sensitive to crystalline endotoxic protein produced by Bt gene
which in turn protects cotton from bollworms.
• Reduction in insecticide use in the cultivation of Bt cotton in which bollworms are major pests.
• Potential reduction in the cost of cultivation (depending on seed cost versus insecticide costs).
• Reduction in predators which help in controlling the bollworms by feeding on larvae and eggs of bollworm.
• No health hazards due to rare use of insecticides (particularly who is engaged in spraying of insecticides).
• Bt cotton is supplied in Maharashatra by the agri-biotechnology company Mahyco, which distributes it.[13]
• The use of Bt cotton in India has grown exponentially since its introduction in 2002.[14] Eight years after the
deployment of Bt cotton, India became the number one exporter of cotton globally and the second largest cotton
producer in the world. India has bred Bt-cotton varieties such as Bikaneri Nerma and hybrids such as NHH-44.[15]
• Socio-economic surveys confirm that Bt cotton continues to deliver significant and multiple agronomic, economic, 
environmental and welfare benefits to Indian farmers and society including halved insecticide requirements and a
doubling of yields.[16]
• Figure 1 T-DNA region of plant transformation construct p2300-tp2AX1. Cotton chloroplast
transit peptide (tp) was fused to the cry2AX1 gene. The tp-cry2AX1 gene is driven by a
double enhancer CaMV35S promoter and terminated by the nopaline synthase (nos)
terminator. The plant selectable marker gene nptII is under the control of the
duplicated CaMV35S promoter and tailed by the CaMV35S polyA. LB: left border of T-DNA
region; RB: right border of T-DNA region. 
Golden rice
 Golden rice – a genetically modified crop

• The Golden Rice Project was the result of an initiative by the Rockefeller Foundation, and is
based on a widely recognised need for a sustainable biofortification approach to contribute
to alleviating the scourge of micronutrient deficiencies worldwide
• Professors Ingo Potrykus (Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland)and Peter Beyer(Univ.
of Freiburg), collaborated to create the genetically modified rice( Oryza sativa ) variety
-- Golden Rice, to help mitigate the problem of vitamin A deficiency in the world. 
• Golden Rice is a good example of a biofortified crop. In this case biofortification was obtained
by genetic modification of the rice plant to produce and accumulate provitamin A (β-
carotene) in the grain, something that doesn't happen in naturally occurring rice plants.
•  Blindness is an easily recognisable symptom of VAD( Vitamin A deficiency ), but it is only the
most visible of a complex set of life-threatening illnesses, including reduced immune
competence, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality (largely from increased severity
of infectious diseases); night blindness, corneal ulcers, keratomalacia and related ocular signs
and symptoms of xerophthalmia; exacerbation of anemia through suboptimal absorption and
utilization of iron; and other conditions not yet fully identified or clarified (eg retardation of
growth and development).
• Golden rice was produced by transforming rice with 2 beta carotene synthesis
genes
• 1. phytoene synthesis – from daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus)or from Zea
mays
• 2. Crt1 (carotene desaturase ) from the soil bacterium Erwinia uredovora
• Both the genes were inserted into the rice nuclear genome under control of an
endosperm specific promotor to express the genes only in the endosperm
• Starting from geranyl geranyl diphosphate (GGDP) lycopene is produced by
enzymes coded by the two genes introduced into the rice nuclear genome
• Lycopene is converted to β carotene by an endogenous enzyme in the plant
• Lycopene is responsible for the Golden yellow colour of the rice grains.
• Golden rice 1 produced less beta carotene
than required to combat vitamin A deficiency

• Golden rice 2 was introduced which produced

a higher amount of beta carotene
• Applications:
• A major goal of the Golden Rice Project is to supply consumers in rice-based societies with
the recommended daily intake of vitamin A. The tools necessary to achieve this goal are
available since the development of an advanced version of Golden Rice known as GR2Golden
Rice, which is the result of targeted genetic engineering, offers a partial solution to a global
problem.
• The approach consists of introducing the necessary enzymes to enable the rice grains to
process precursor molecules present in the grain and thus activate the biochemical pathway
to β-carotene production. This pathway is active in rice leaves but is turned off in the grain
during development. Thus, no new substance is being produced. The modification only
consists in producing β-carotene in a tissue where the plant normally doesn't produce it, i.e.
in the grain. rice will remain a major caloric intake source for billions of people, because it is
easy to grow, well adapted for long term storage, and cheap to obtain. Good β-carotene
sources are not grown everywhere where vitamin deficiency is a problem. Moreover, we now
know that bioavailability of β-carotene from vegetables is lower than previously thought, and
thus the required increase in daily vegetable intake would be economically unattainable for
many poor people.
• In nuclear biology and molecular biology, a marker gene is a gene used
to determine if a nucleic acid sequence has been successfully inserted
into an organism's DNA. In particular, there are two sub-types of these
marker genes: a selectable marker and a marker for screening
• Selectable marker
• Selectable marker
• A selectable marker protects the organism from a selective agent that
would normally kill it or prevent its growth. In a transformation
reaction, depending on the transformation efficiency, only one in
several million to billion cells may take up DNA. Rather than checking
every single cell, scientists use a selective agent to kill all cells that do
not contain the foreign DNA, leaving only the desired ones.
• Luciferases comprise a group of enzymes that emit light in the presence of
oxygen and a substrate (luciferin). Such a luciferin–luciferase system is found in
nature, for example, in bacteria (Vibrio harveyi), dinoflagellates (Gonycaulax),
and the firefly (Photinus pyralis). These luciferases, in particular the eukaryotic 
firefly luciferase (Luc), have been commonly used as a light probe in a number
of biological experiments, including promoter activity assays.
• This in vivo imaging allows the visualization of the spatial and temporal
behavior of Luc-expressing cells in living animals; for example, growth of tumor
cells, trafficking of immune cells, and migration of transplanted cells. These
imaging studies using Luc-labeled cells have offered new insights that could not
have been gained using conventional histological approaches.