Genetic engineering for increasing resistance of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) to pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera)

Pod borer is one of the main factors for yield decrease of chickpea. Therefore, breeding of chickpea for resistance to this pest is important. Modified cry1Ac gene of Bacillus thuringiensis in pCry1Ac-nptII plasmid containing twin T-DNA for cry1Ac and nptII genes have been used for transformation of chickpea. At last 38 plants had nptII gene that 36 plants of them had cry1Ac gene and two plants had only nptII gene. Western blotting analysis showed that 30 plants had Cry1Ac protein expression. Transformation percentage was 0.37 in this experiment. Only 7 plants produced T1 seeds. Regarding to western blotting and PCR analysis for T0 and T1, plants were devided to some groups with different expressions. Bioassay with neonate of pod borer showed high mortality in lines with high Cry1Ac protein expression.