Data from: Field performance of Bt eggplants (Solanum melongena L.) in the Philippines: Cry1Ac expression and control of the eggplant fruit and shoot borer (Leucinodes orbonalis Guenée)

Plants expressing Cry proteins from the bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis
(Bt), have become a major tactic for controlling insect pests in maize and
cotton globally. However, there are few Bt vegetable crops. Eggplant
(Solanum melongena) is a popular vegetable grown throughout Asia that is
heavily treated with insecticides to control the eggplant fruit and shoot
borer, Leucinodes orbonalis (EFSB). Herein we provide the first publicly
available data on field performance in Asia of eggplant engineered to
produce the Cry1Ac protein. Replicated field trials with five Bt eggplant
open-pollinated (OP) lines from transformation event EE-1 and their non-Bt
comparators were conducted over three cropping seasons in the Philippines
from 2010–2012. Field trials documented levels of Cry1Ac protein expressed
in plants and evaluated their efficacy against the primary target pest,
EFSB. Cry1Ac concentrations ranged from 0.75–24.7 ppm dry weight with the
highest in the terminal leaves (or shoots) and the lowest in the roots.
Cry1Ac levels significantly increased from the vegetative to the
reproductive stage. Bt eggplant lines demonstrated excellent control of
EFSB. Pairwise analysis of means detected highly significant differences
between Bt eggplant lines and their non-Bt comparators for all field
efficacy parameters tested. Bt eggplant lines demonstrated high levels of
control of EFSB shoot damage (98.6–100%) and fruit damage (98.1–99.7%) and
reduced EFSB larval infestation (95.8–99.3%) under the most severe pest
pressure during trial 2. Moths that emerged from larvae collected from Bt
plants in the field and reared in their Bt eggplant hosts did not produce
viable eggs or offspring. These results demonstrate that Bt eggplant lines
containing Cry1Ac event EE-1 provide outstanding control of EFSB and can
dramatically reduce the need for conventional insecticides.