Advances in Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue focused on Bacillus thuringiensis toxins. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins are environmentally safe and more selective for target pests; therefore, dependency on the application of conventional insecticides is reduced and they have revolutionized agriculture. These Bt. toxins can be directly expressed in transgenic plants with the incorporation of Bt. genes, which have successfully reduced the incidence of lepidopteran pest attacks, ultimately increasing the yield of cotton, maize, rice and soybean crops. However, the development of field-evolved resistance is a big threat to Bt toxin effectiveness for controlling pests with the passage of time. Hence, it is necessary to explore biochemical and molecular techniques to study the toxicity evaluation, nature of resistance development, resistance mechanisms, contributing factors, sublethal effects, fitness costs, cross-resistance patterns, identification and overexpression of resistance genes, deciphering the protein binding sites in agriculture and medical pests, and investigating the insect microbial communities. Moreover, effective and continuous Bt resistance monitoring and resistance management strategies should be established to delay the evolution of resistance to Bt. proteins. Exploring these studies can help in the sustainable utilization of Bt. crop biotechnology. Entomologists, especially toxinologists, are focusing their efforts on understanding the various aspects of Bt resistance, including basic biochemical and molecular studies for the eco-friendly and sustainable management of pests.

Original research, communication, and review papers are welcome. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Naeem Abbas
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• toxicity
• resistance
• genetics
• fitness costs
• mechansim
• cross-resistance
• sub-lethal effects
• agricultural and medical pests
• resistance management strategies
• Bacillus thuringiensis toxins