Monarchs and the Bt Transgenic Corn Pollen Scare

[Chip Taylor]

4)  Bt toxin does not act as a chitinase!  It must be ingested and works in
the insect gut.

I have seen two references - which I'm unable to lay my hands on at this
moment but I'll try to find them Mond. - that refered to some Bt toxins as
chitinases. This surprised me as I didn't remember that there was any
chitin in the lep gut. But there is - the peritrophic membrane is composed
of chitin in part and this is the first barrier that must be breached.


Monarch Watch
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Snail:  c/o O.R. Taylor, Dept. of Entomology, Univ. of KS, Lawrence KS 66045