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Question

Bt toxin kills certain insects such as lepidopterans (tobacco budworm, armyworm), coleopterans (beetles) and dipterans (flies, mosquitoes). But, actually, the Bt toxin protein exists as inactive protoxins. What makes the activation of protoxin to active toxin in bollworm?

A
Acidic pH of stomach
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B
Body temperature
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C
Moist surface of midgut
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D
Alkaline pH of gut
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Solution

The correct option is D Alkaline pH of gut
Bt toxin is produced by Bacillus thuringiensis, which is a bacteria.

The genes, cryIAc and cryIIAb, code for Bt toxins, which are expressed in the plant cells as protoxins. When the bollworms feed on plants, they ingest the protoxins too. They are converted into active toxins in the alkaline gut of the insect, thereby resulting in the lysis and cell swelling of midgut epithelial cells, which eventually results in the death of the insect.

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