Further Thoughts: Bt cotton and the evolution of resistance

In a very interesting post, Ian Ramjohn covers some interesting research about the evolution of Bt resistance in cotton pests.

In an article published in Nature Biotechnology, Bruce Tabashnik and colleagues looked at the actual pattern of evolution of resistance to Bt toxin Cry1Ac in cotton over a 10-year period. They used studies conducted in Australia, China, Spain and the United States focusing on six pest species: Helicoverpa armigera, H. zea, Heliothis virescens, Ostrinia nubilalis, Pectinophora gossypiella and Sesamia nonagrioides. They found that in only one of these species - H. zea - had the frequency of resistance genes increased substantially.

Go read the rest at Further Thoughts.

HT: ResearchBlogging.org’s feed, which is becoming an excellent resource.