Oral Presentation The 5th Prato Conference on Pore Forming Proteins 2021

25 years of Bt crops what made them successful and what does the future hold? (#16)

William Moar 1
  1. Bayer Crop Science, Chesterfield, MO, United States

Since the introduction of large scale commercial Bt crops in 1996, they have been quickly adopted where available for controlling the primary insect pests of corn, cotton and soy globally. Some reasons for this large scale adoption and success include:  1) Control of the key insect pests of major crops such as corn, cotton, soy; 2) Constitutive expression leading to constant expression of insect control trait(s); 3) Some Bt proteins when expressed in crops resulted in a high dose to increase durability; 4) Bt proteins with different MOA’s could be combined or pyramided to increase efficacy and durability; 5) First and second generation Bt crops (especially for lepidoptera) typically used the same proteins as found in established Bt microbial pesticides: HOSU for Bt proteins in microbial pesticides demonstrates safety of crops expressing Bt proteins; 6) Restricted host range, usually limited to specific target insect pests or relatives.  As we move into the next 25 years, what can we expect from Bt crops?  This presentation will revisit the success of Bt crops over the last 25 years, and discuss how Bt, or more generally, insect control proteins, expressed in transgenic crops, will need to be developed in the future to ensure sustainability of major food crops.