Cry1Ac production is costly for native plants attacked by non-Cry1Ac-targeted herbivores in the field

What is it about?

The main advance delivered so far by genetically modified crops, in addition to providing herbicide resistance, has been the engineering of Cry toxins into plants (Bt) to provide resistance against target herbivores. We investigate Bt technology from an ecological perspective. We show the costs of producing Cry for a native plant, and put these in the context of native plant defense. Our results indicate that the plastic regulation of native defenses in wild plants allows them to protect their yield better than they can when one specific defense compound is engineered in.

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