Transformation of Cry1a105 gene to tomato in order to increase resistance to Heliothis sp

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an important vegetable in the world, it exposes to a wide range of pathogens and plant pests attack. Fruit worm is one of the most important pest of tomato that mainly damage the fruit and causes the yield reduction. In this study, cry1a105 gene was cloned to pBI121 plasmid (under 35S promoter and Nos terminator), and was transferred to tomato by Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 strain. The cotyledons of different tomato cultivars were used for gene transformation. The candidate transgenic plants have been selected on MS medium complemented with vitamins of B5 and 0.3 mg/L NAA, 1.5 mg/L BAP, and 50 mg/L of kanamycin antibiotic. Molecular analysis using polymerase chain reaction ( PCR ) confirmed the presence of cry1a105 gene in transgenic plants (T0). The candidate plants were cultivated until T2 generation and then the expression of gene were studied by molecular analysis (RT- PCR ). The gene expression in the plants were confirmed, then they were examined by bioassay analysis. Bioassay analysis showed that the transformed Karun cultivar had a high resistance (70%) to tomato fruit worm than the control treatment.