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Question

Cultivation of Bt cotton has been much in the news. The prefix 'Bt' means

A
'Barium-treated' cotton seeds.
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B
'Bigger thread' variety of cotton with better tensile strength.
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C
Produced by 'biotechnology' using restriction enzymes and ligases.
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D
Carrying an endotoxin gene from Bacillus thuringiensis.
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Solution

The correct option is D Carrying an endotoxin gene from Bacillus thuringiensis.
Bt cotton is a genetically modified variety of cotton producing an insecticide. It is produced by Monsanto. Bacillus thuringiensis (or Bt) is a gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium, commonly used as a biological pesticide. B. thuringiensis also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types of moths and butterflies, as well on leaf surfaces, aquatic environments, animal feces, insect-rich environments, and flour mills and grain-storage facilities.
During sporulation, many Bt strains produce crystal proteins , called as endotoxins, that have insecticidal action. This has led to their use as insecticides, and more recently to genetically modified crops using Bt genes. Many crystal-producing Bt strains, though, do not have insecticidal properties.
The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a family of over 200 different proteins which naturally produce chemicals harmful to selective insects, most notably the larvae of moths and butterflies, beetles, cotton boll worms and flies, and harmless to other forms of life.
(Bt) cotton was created through the addition of genes encoding toxin crystals in the Cry group of endotoxin. When insects attack and eat the cotton plant, the Cry toxins are dissolved. This is made possible due to the high pH level of the insects stomach. The now dissolved and activated Cry molecules bond to cadherin-like proteins on cells comprising the brush border molecules. The epithelium of the brush border membranes separates the body cavity from the gut whilst allowing access for nutrients. The Cry toxin molecules attach themselves to specific locations on the cadherin-like proteins present on the epithelial cells of the midge and ion channels are formed which allow the flow of potassium. Regulation of potassium concentration is essential and if left unchecked causes death of cells. Due to the formation of Cry ion channels sufficient regulation of potassium ions is lost and results in the death of epithelial cells. The death of such cells creates gaps in the brush border membrane. The gaps then allow bacteria and (Bt) spores to enter the body cavity resulting in the death of the organism.

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