Enhanced expression of Arabidopsis rubisco small subunit gene promoter regulated Cry1Ac gene in chickpea conferred complete resistance to Helicoverpa armigera.

A major pest of chickpea, Helicoverpa armigera, can be controlled by expressing genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis as an environmentally compatible option. Here we show that transgenic chickpeas containing a cry1Ac gene conferred a high degree of resistance to H. armigera. The Agrobacterium binary vector contained the nptII gene as the selectable marker and cry1Ac gene driven by the Arabidopsis rubisco small subunit gene (ats1A) promoter. We generated 54 and 47 independent transgenic lines using truncated (tr cry1Ac) and full-length versions of the cry1Ac (fl cry1Ac) gene, respectively. Of these lines, twelve transmitted the trcry1Ac transgene to the next generation at a 3:1 ratio, while only 8 flcry1Ac lines segregated in a 3:1 ratio. Five lines expressed trCry1Ac protein >50 μg/g fresh weight, however, only one line accumulated about 30 μg/g flCry1Ac protein. Such high levels of trCry1Ac protein have not been...