Several important crops have been engineered to express toxins of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) for insect control. In 1999, US farmers planted nearly 8 million hectares (nearly 20 million acres) of transgenic Bt crops approved by the EPA. Bt-transgenic plants can greatly reduce the use of broader spectrum insecticides, but insect resistance may hinder this technology. Present resistance management strategies rely on a "refuge" composed of non-Bt plants to conserve susceptible alleles. We have used Bt-transgenic broccoli plants and the diamondback moth as a model system to examine resistance management strategies. The higher number of larvae on refuge plants in our field tests indicate that a "separate refuge" will be more effective at conserving susceptible larvae than a "mixed refuge" and would thereby reduce the number of homozygous resistant (RR) offspring. Our field tests also examined the strategy of spraying the refuge to prevent economic loss to the crop while maintaining susceptible alleles in the population. Results indicate that great care must be taken to ensure that refuges, particularly those sprayed with efficacious insecticides, produce adequate numbers of susceptible alleles. Each insect/Bt crop system may have unique management requirements because of the biology of the insect, but our studies validate the need for a refuge. As we learn more about how to refine our present resistance management strategies, it is important to also develop the next generation of technology and implementation strategies.

We used Agrobacterium tumefaciens to transform flowering stalk explants of five genotypes of broccoli with a construct containing the neomycin phosphotransferase gene and a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene [CryIA(c) type] optimized for plant expression. Overall transformation efficiency was 6.4~o; 181 kanamycin-resistant plants were recovered. Of the 162 kanamycin-resistant plants tested, 112 (69~o) caused 100 ~o morality of 1 st-instar larvae of a Bt-susceptible diamondback moth strain. Southern blots of some resistant transformants confirmed presence of the Bt gene. Selected plants that gave 100~ mortality of susceptible larvae allowed survival of a strain of diamondback moth that had evolved resistance to Bt in the field. F 1 hybrids between resistant and susceptible insects did not survive. Analysis of progeny from 26 resistant transgenic lines showed 16 that gave segregation ratios consistent with a single T-DNA integration. Southern analysis was used to verify those plants possessing a single T-DNA integration. Because these transgenic plants kill susceptible larvae and F 1 larvae, but serve as a suitable host for resistant ones, they provide an excellent model for tests of Bt resistance management strategies.

Experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of resistance management tactics is vital to help provide guidelines for the deployment of transgenic insecticidal crops. Transgenic broccoli expressing a Cry1Ac gene of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), were used in greenhouse tests to evaluate the influence of size and placement of nontransgenic refuge plants on changes in resistance allele frequency and pest population growth. In the first test with an initial Cry1Ac-resistance (R) allele frequency of 0.007, P. xylostella were introduced into cages with the following treatments: 0, 3.3, 10, 20, and 100% refuge plants. Results after four generations showed that resistance could be delayed by increasing the proportion of refuge plants in the cage. Population growth was also influenced by refuge size with the highest populations occurring in treatments that had either no refuge plants or all refuge plants. In the second test, we evaluated the effect of refuge placement by comparing 20% separate and 20% mixed refuges. P. xylostella with an initial frequency of resistant alleles at 0.0125 were introduced into cages and allowed to cycle; later generations were evaluated for resistance and population growth. Separating the refuge had a pronounced effect on delaying resistance and slowing establishment of resistant larvae on Bt plants. Combining information from both trials, we found a strong negative correlation between the number of larvae on Bt plants and the mortality of the population in leaf dip bioassays. Results from larval movement studies showed that separate refuges delayed resistance better than mixed refuges because they conserved relatively more susceptible alleles than R alleles and did not increase the effective dominance of resistance.

Transgenic broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) was produced by two Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation methods. One used flowering stalk explants from mature plants; the other used hypocotyl and petiole explants from in vitro-grown seedlings. Several hundred transformants containing a Bacillus thuringiensis ∂-endotoxin gene (CryIA(c)-type) and the neomycin phosphotransferase gene were recovered. Rooted transformants were obtained in as little as 3 months using seedling explants. Transgenic cabbage was also obtained by the seedling explant method. Parameters important for high efficiency regeneration and transformation rates included use of a tobacco nurse cell layer, sealing of petri dishes with a porous surgical tape instead of Parafilm, preculture of seedling explants and appropriate length of co-cultivation with Agrobacterium. Advantages and disadvantages of each transformation procedure are discussed.