Resistance to Bt maize by western corn rootworm: insights from the laboratory and the field

Western corn rootworm is a serious pest of maize. Beginning in 2003, management of western corn rootworm included transgenic maize that produces insecticidal toxins derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The first Bt maize hybrids produced Cry3Bb1, but additional Bt toxins have since been introduced, including eCry3.1Ab, mCry3A and Cry34/35Ab1. Laboratory selection experiments found that western corn rootworm could develop resistance to all types of Bt maize following three to seven generations of selection. By 2009 cases of field-evolved resistance to Cry3Bb1 maize had been identified, with populations also showing cross-resistance to mCry3A maize. Factors likely contributing to resistance were the lack of a high dose of Bt toxin for maize targeting rootworm and minimal fitness costs of resistance.