Not Available

Not AvailableDomain swapping and generation of chimeric insecticidal crystal protein is an emerging area of insect pest management. The lepidopteran insect pest, gram pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera H.) wreaks havoc to chickpea crop affecting production. Lepidopteran insects were reported to be controlled by Bt (cryI) genes. We designed a plant codon optimized chimeric Bt gene (cry1Aabc) using three domains from three different cry1A genes (domains I, II, and III from cry1Aa, cry1Ab, and cry1Ac, respectively) and expressed it under the control of a constitutive promoter in chickpea (cv. DCP92-3) to assess its effect on gram pod borer. A total of six transgenic chickpea shoots were established by grafting into mature fertile plants. The in vitro regenerated (organogenetic) shoots were selected based on antibiotic kanamycin monosulfate (100 mg/L) with transformation efficiency of 0.076%. Three transgenic events were extensively studied based on gene expression pattern and insect mortality across generations. Protein expression in pod walls, immature seeds and leaves (pre- and post-flowering) were estimated and expression in pre-flowering stage was found higher than that of post-flowering. Analysis for the stable integration, expression and insect mortality (detached leaf and whole plant bioassay) led to identification of efficacious transgenic chickpea lines. The chimeric cry1Aabc expressed in chickpea is effective against gram pod borer and generated events can be utilized in transgenic breeding program.Not Availabl

Utilization of biopesticides as sustainable solutions for management of pests in legume crops: achievements and prospects

Abstract Grain legumes remain important to meet the projected targets relating to food and nutritional security worldwide. The complementation of cereal-based food with grain legumes is a vegetarian diet with high-quality protein. However, the performance of these crops is severely influenced by a number of biotic and abiotic stresses, of which pests and pathogens remain the crucial affecting plants at different growth stages. Chemical pesticides are mainly employed across the world for management of pests and pathogens. The risk associated with the environmental pollution and health hazards to man, plants, domestic animals, and wild life makes these pesticides ecologically unacceptable. Also, major damage caused by pests of grain legumes are systemic in nature, and their management through chemicals often yields unsatisfactory outcome. This has led to increasing shift in the attention of scientific community towards eco-friendly and safer technologies for pest management in legumes. Sustainable protection demands implementation of strategies that rely upon biological control agents (BCAs) and their formulations. In recent years, such formulations have been promoted to mitigate the pest problem and improving crop yield. This review presents an updated summary on BCAs including the present status of BCA application, mode of actions, and delivery systems under controlled and field conditions to address major pest problems on legume crops