Transgenic crops producing insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely used to control pests, but their benefits will be lost if pests evolve resistance. The mandated high-dose/refuge strategy for delaying pest resistance requires planting refuges of toxin-free crops near Bt crops to promote survival of susceptible pests. We report that pollen-mediated gene flow up to 31 m f...

Potato, Solanum tuberosum L., is one of the world’s principal food crops. Important potato insect pests include Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say, potato tuberworm, Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller), and aphids, especially as they transmit potato leafroll virus and potato virus Y. Management of insect pests of potato relies almost entirely on chemical insecticides. Potato bre...

The increasing need for food can be met through an increase in crop productivity and reduction in pest associated losses. Recombinant DNA technology has created new avenues for genetic enhancement of crops through the development of transgenic plants with resistance to insects. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) genes have been widely used as candidate genes for genetic transformation of crop plants f...

Transgenic cotton that produced one or more insecticidal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was planted on over 15 million hectares in 11 countries in 2009 and has contributed to a reduction of over 140 million kilograms of insecticide active ingredient between 1996 and 2008. As a highly selective form of host plant resistance, Bt cotton effectively controls a number of key lepidopteran pe...

Development of resistance and resurgence has limited the application of single pesticide and has given way out to tank mixture. Pest management strategy is mainly relying on chemical pesticides. Mixture of two or more pesticides is very common among the farmers. Pest population to be controlled should be susceptible or have low level of resistance to each pesticide used in the mixture. Combinat...

Background: Lepidopteran and coleopteran species are the most important pests in maize. They can be controlled using genetically modified (GM) crops expressing insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins. The long-term success of this technology demands a pest resistance management. Important information for the successful management of resistance is the baseline susceptibility of the dif...