Author(s):

Tirthkar Meera Baburao and Bhat Sumangala

Abstract: Pigeonpea is an important legume which belongs to the family Fabaceae. It is an excellent source of seed protein content of about 21 per cent. Pod borer or Helicoverpa armigera a lepidopteron insect is the most serious and widespread pest of pigeonpea. Two popular varieties Asha and BSMR736 were used for tissue culture independent Agrobacterium mediated transformation. The plant to row progeny screening of 216 primary transformants in T1 generation using cry2Aa specific PCR assay, identified seventeen transformants. Insect bioassay and Cry protein estimation using ELISA conducted simultaneously showed larval mortality ranging from 20% to 70% and the Cry2Aa content from 0.04 to 1.45 μg/g of fresh leaf tissue. Reduction in larval weight and length ranged from 13.32% to 47.13% and 42.33% to 64.95% respectively. Southern blot analysis indicated the single copy integration in selected events. The selected transgenic events can serve as resource for the development of pyramided transgenic pigeonpea in future.

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