Transgenic plants resistant to harmful insects

Abstract

Insects are the most common living group in the world. Fighting insects is one of the important issues today because of their negative effects on humans and plants. One of the most useful and common biological control methods is the use of preparations of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacteria. Bt is a gram-positive, facultatively aerobic, spore-forming soil bacterium that produces versatile proteins that have stark toxicity against the insects within parasporal crystals during the dormant phase of its growth cycle. These proteins, called Cry proteins, are divided into many groups according to their sequence similarity (Cry1-Cry67). It is aimed to obtain higher yields in agricultural production with transgenic plants resistant to weed pesticides (herbicides), insects and viral diseases, and to reduce the use of pesticides, especially insect-resistant plants, all over the world. Soy, corn, canola, potato, pumpkin and papaya are transgenic plant species cultivated in the world today.