UPSC Prelims 2021 Q67: Bollgard I and Bollgard II — Explained

Bollgard I and Bollgard II technologies are mentioned in the context of

clonal propagation of crop plants
developing genetically modified crop plants
production of plant growth substances
production of biofertilizers

Answer: (b) developing genetically modified crop plants

Statement-wise explanation

a: incorrect — Clonal propagation means growing new plants that are genetically identical to the parent, without seeds. Cuttings, grafting and tissue culture (micropropagation) are examples. It copies an existing plant and adds no new gene. Bollgard is a cotton seed technology that adds new genes to the plant, so it is not clonal propagation.
b: correct — Bollgard is the trade name for Monsanto's insect-resistant Bt cotton. Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech, a 50:50 joint venture, brought it to India. Bollgard I carries one gene (Cry1Ac) from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, and the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) approved it in 2002. Bollgard II stacks two genes (Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab) and was approved in 2006. Adding a gene from another organism makes the plant genetically modified, and Bt cotton remains India's only GM crop approved for commercial cultivation.
c: incorrect — Plant growth substances are hormones such as auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, ethylene and abscisic acid. They are made or sprayed to control growth, flowering and ripening. Bollgard does not produce any hormone. It makes the cotton plant produce its own insecticidal Cry proteins against bollworms.
d: incorrect — Biofertilizers are living microbes that add or free up nutrients in soil, such as Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, blue-green algae and mycorrhiza. Bollgard uses a bacterium only as the source of a gene, which is moved into the cotton plant. The bacterium is not applied to the soil, and the purpose is pest resistance, not soil nutrition.

How to eliminate

This is mainly a recall question. The fact to remember is that Bollgard I and Bollgard II are Monsanto's brand names for Bt cotton, which is genetically modified cotton. The name still gives a clue. 'Boll' is the cotton fruit, and 'gard' sounds like 'guard', so the technology protects cotton bolls from pests (bollworms). Pest resistance is a trait, and a trait built into the seed points to genetic modification. The other options do not fit. Clonal propagation copies plants and adds nothing new. Growth substances are hormones. Biofertilizers feed the soil. None of these would be sold as numbered generations, I and II, of a seed technology. Numbered generations are typical of transgenic events, where the second version stacks one more gene.

Know more

Bt cotton: India's only commercial GM crop

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a soil bacterium. Its cry genes code for Cry proteins that are toxic to certain insect larvae. When a cry gene is inserted into cotton, the plant makes the toxin itself. A bollworm that feeds on the plant dies. Moving a gene from one organism into another like this is called transgenic (GM) technology.

Feature	Bollgard I	Bollgard II
Approved in India by GEAC	2002	2006
Bt gene(s)	Cry1Ac (event MON531)	Cry1Ac + Cry2Ab (stacked)
Target pests	Bollworms	American, pink and spotted bollworms
Licensor in India	Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech	Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech

Regulation. GM crops are regulated under the Rules, 1989 made under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The GEAC, under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, appraises them for commercial release. Each application is assessed case by case. Health, environment and food/feed safety data are reviewed at every stage. Growing an unapproved GM crop is illegal. In 2019 the government reported suspected illegal planting of Bt brinjal and herbicide-tolerant (HT) cotton in several states.

Resistance problem. Pests evolve. Unusual survival of pink bollworm on Bollgard I was detected in Gujarat in the 2009 crop. ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) studies later found that pink bollworm had become resistant to both Cry toxins in Bollgard II. This is why refuge planting (non-Bt cotton rows) and integrated pest management are advised alongside Bt cotton.

Do not confuse: GM (transgenic: a foreign gene is added) is different from genome editing (the plant's own genes are changed slightly). Biofertilizers and tissue culture are also biotechnology, but neither adds a new gene to the crop.

In the news

Bt cotton stayed in the news because pink bollworm had developed resistance to Bollgard II and because illegal herbicide-tolerant cotton was being grown. This kept GM crop regulation a live topic. The question itself tests static science-and-technology knowledge.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

Bt cotton: Bollgard is a trade name for a cotton seed technology. This entry explains the science behind the name.
Gene Revolution: Shows how a pest-resistance trait can be built into a crop, the idea the four options are tested against.
Genome-edited rice: Separates adding a foreign gene from editing a plant's own genes, a common follow-up trap.
Cotton: Background on the crop that Bollgard technology was developed for.