Genetic Engineering-Based Modern Approaches to Enhance Crop Resistance to Pests

Abstract

Creation of genetically modified plants with an incorporated system protecting them from pests is one of the main goals in modern agricultural biotechnology. From the mid-1990s to the present, the majority of such transgenic crops is represented by carriers of the insecticidal Cry and Vip genes of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. However, a tendency to change this strategy in favor of the incorporated defense systems based on RNA interference has become evident during the recent decade. Evolutional paths of phytophages' responses to insecticidal GM plants that are armed with these genetic constructions are discussed in the review.