Higher boll worm survival rates were detected after high temperature presented during square period in Bt cotton. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of high temperature level on the Bt efficacy of two different types of Bt cotton cultivars at squaring stage. During the 2011 to 2013 cotton growth seasons, high temperature treatments ranged from 34 to 44°C in climate chambers, and field experiments under high temperature weather with various temperature levels were conducted to investigate the effects of the high temperature level on square Bt protein concentration and nitrogen metabolism. The climate chamber experiments showed that the square insecticidal protein contents reduced after 24 h elevated temperature treatments for both cultivars, whereas significant declines of the square insecticidal protein contents were detected at temperature 〉38°C, and only slightly numerical reductions were observed when temperature below 38°C. Similar high temperature responses were also observed at the two field experimental sites in 2013. Correspondingly, high temperature below 38°C seems have little effect on the square amino acid concentrations, soluble protein contents, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase（GPT） and glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase（GOT） activities as well as protease and peptidase activities; however, when the temperature was above 38°C, reduced soluble protein contents, enhanced amino acid concentrations, decreased GPT and GOT activities, bolstered protease and peptidase activities in square were detected. In general, the higher the temperature is（〉38°C）, the larger the changes for the above compound contents and key enzymes activities of the square protein cycle. The findings indicated that the unstable insect resistance of the square was related to high temperature level during square stage.
WANG JunCHEN YuanYAO Meng-haoLI YuanWEN Yu-jinCHEN YuanZHANG XiangCHEN De-hua
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of alternating high temperature on CrylAc protein content on Bt cotton cultivars Sikang 1 （SK-1, a conventional cultivar） and Sikang 3 （SK-3, a hybrid cultivar）. In 2011 and 2012, cotton plants were subjected to high temperature treatments ranging from 32 to 40℃ in climate chambers to investigate the effects of high temperature on boll shell insecticidal protein expression. The experiments showed that significant decline of the boll shell insecticidal protein was detected at temperatures higher than 38℃ after 24 h. Based on the results, the cotton plants were treated with the threshold temperature of 38℃ from 6：00 a.m. to 6：00 p.m. followed by a normal temperature of 27℃ during the remaining night hours （DH/NN） in 2012 and 2013. These treatments were conducted at peak boll growth stage for both cultivars in study periods of 0, 4, 7, and 10 d. Temperature treatment of 32℃ from 6：00 a.m. to 6：00 p.m. and 27℃ in the remaining hours was set as control. The results showed that, compared with the control, after the DH/NN stress treatment applied for 7 d, the boll shell CrylAc protein content level was significantly decreased by 19.1 and 17.5% for SK-1 and by 15.3 and 13.7% for SK-3 in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Further analysis of nitrogen metabolic physiology under DH/NN showed that the soluble protein content and the glutamic pyruvic transaminase （GPT） activities decreased slightly after 4 d, and then decreased sharply after 7 d. The free amino acid content and the protease content increased sharply after 7 d. The changes in SK-1 were greater than those in SK-3. These results suggest that under DH/NN stress, boll shell CrylAc protein content decline was delayed. Reduced protein synthesis and increased protein degradation in the boll shell decreased protein content, including Bt protein, which may reduce resistance to the cotton bollworm.
