Find in Library

<i>Ostrinia furnacalis</i> is an important borer on maize. Long-term and large-scale planting of transgenic corn has led <i>O. furnacalis</i> evolving resistance and reducing the control effect. Recently, high levels of resistance to Bt Cry1 toxins have been reported to be genetically linked to the mutation or down-regulation of ABC transporter subfamily G gene <i>ABCG4</i> in <i>O. furnacalis</i>. In order to further determine the relationship between <i>ABCG4</i> gene and the resistance to Cry1 toxins in <i>O. furnacalis</i>, the novel CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering system was utilized to successfully construct ABCG4-KO knockout homozygous strain. Bioassay results indicated that an ABCG4-KO strain had a higher resistance to Cry1 proteins compared with a susceptible strain (ACB-BtS). The result indicates that the <i>ABCG4</i> gene may act as a receptor of the Bt Cry1 toxin in <i>O. furnacalis</i>. Furthermore, the development time was significantly changed in the early stage ABCG4-KO larvae, and the population parameters were also significantly changed. In summary, our CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing study presents evidence that <i>ABCG4</i> gene is a functional receptor for Bt Cry1 toxins, laying the foundation for further clarification of the Bt resistance mechanism.