A field study was carried out to quantify plant growth and the foliar chemistry of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton (cv. GK-12) exposed to ambient CO 2 and elevated (double-ambient) CO 2 for different lengths of time (1, 2 and 3 months) in 2004 and 2005. The results indicated that CO 2 levels significantly affected plant height, leaf area per plant and leaf chemistry of transgenic Bt cotton. Significantly, higher plant height and leaf area per plant were observed after cotton plants that were grown in elevated CO 2 were compared with plants grown in ambient CO 2 for 1, 2 and 3 months in the investigation. Simultaneously, significant interaction between CO 2 level × investigating year was observed in leaf area per plant. Moreover, foliar total amino acids were increased by 14%, 13%, 11% and 12%, 14%, 10% in transgenic Bt cotton after exposed to elevated CO 2 for 1, 2 or 3 months compared with ambient CO 2 in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Condensed tannin occurrence increased by 17%, 11%, 9% in 2004 and 12%, 11%, 9% in 2005 in transgenic Bt cotton after being exposed to elevated CO 2 for 1, 2 or 3 months compared with ambient CO 2 for the same time. However, Bt toxin decreased by 3.0%, 2.9%, 3.1% and 2.4%, 2.5%, 2.9% in transgenic Bt cotton after exposed to elevated CO 2 for 1, 2 or 3 months compared with ambient CO 2 for same time in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Furthermore, there was prominent interaction on the foliar total amino acids between the CO 2 level and the time of cotton plant being exposed to elevated CO 2 . It is presumed that elevated CO 2 can alter the plant growth and hence ultimately the phenotype allocation to foliar chemistical components of transgenic Bt cotton, which may in turn, affect the plant-herbivore interactions.Key words: elevated CO 2 ; growth; leaf chemistry; open-top chamber; transgenic Bt cotton.Wu G, Chen FJ, Ge F, Sun YC (2007). Effects of elevated carbon dioxide on the growth and foliar chemistry of transgenic Bt cotton. J. Integr. Plant Biol. 49(9), 1361-1369. Available online at www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/toc/jipb, www.jipb.netThe current atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) level is expected to increase from about 350 to 650 part per million by These changes in atmospheric CO 2 are likely to have a direct influence on plant growth and foliar chemistry. The direct "fertilizing" effects of enriched atmospheric CO 2 on plant growth, physiology and community structure have been well documented (Curtis and Wang 1998;Luo et al. 1999). In general, elevated CO 2 increases biomass (Chen et al. 2005b), reduces foliar nitrogen Wu et al. 2006) and increases C:N ratio for most plants, especially C 3 crops (Johns and Hughus 2002 concentration (N m ) and specific leaf area (SLA) were decreased through a retrospective synthesis across 62 species under elevated CO 2 . Paul et al. (2002) found that elevated CO 2 significantly increased aboveground biomass, but had no effect on shoot density. Heagle et al. (2002) confirmed that clove leaf growth, leaf area per plant,...