Convergence of and Mutant Genes in Soybean Confers Synergistic Resistance to Herbicide and Insects.

Soybean is a globally important crop species, which is subject to pressure by insects and weeds causing severe substantially reduce yield and quality. Despite the success of transgenic soybean in terms of () and herbicide tolerance, unforeseen mitigated performances have still been inspected due to climate changes that favor the emergence of insect resistance. Therefore, there is a need to develop a biotech soybean with elaborated gene stacking to improve insect and herbicide tolerance in the field. In this study, new gene stacking soybean events, such as bialaphos resistance () and pesticidal crystal protein () mutant 2 (M#2), are being developed in Vietnamese soybean under field condition. Five transgenic plants were extensively studied in the herbicide effects, gene expression patterns, and insect mortality across generations. The increase in the expression of the gene by 100% in the leaves of putative transgenic plants was a determinant of herbicide tolerance. In an insect bioassay, the -M#2 protein tested yielded higher than expected larval mortality (86%), reflecting larval weight gain and weight of leaf consumed were less in the T1 generation. Similarly, in the field tests, the expression of -M#2 in the transgenic soybean lines was relatively stable from T0 to T3 generations that corresponded to a large reduction in the rate of leaves and pods damage caused by and . The transgenic lines converged two genes, producing a soybean phenotype that was resistant to herbicide and lepidopteran insects. Furthermore, the expression of -M#2 was dominant in the T1 generation leading to the exhibit of better phenotypic traits. These results underscored the great potential of combining and mutation genes in transgenic soybean as pursuant of ensuring resistance to herbicide and lepidopteran insects.