<p style="text-align: justify;">These bioengineered cotton (<i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L.) lines were produced by <i>Agrobacterium</i>-mediated transformation in which the transfer-DNA (T-DNA) region of the bacterial tumour inducing (Ti) plasmid was modified to contain DNA sequences encoding Cry1Ac protein, a nitrilase enzyme, and the NPTII enzyme.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">The nucleotide sequence of the <i>cry1Ac</i> gene was modified by site-directed mutagenesis to contain plant-preferred codons in order to maximize protein expression in plant cells. Expression of the <i>cry1Ac</i> gene was controlled by including promoter sequences from the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S transcript. The <i>bxn</i> gene was under the control of a chimera of the CaMV 35S promoter and the promoter from a mannopine synthase gene from <i>A. tumefaciens</i>. Expression of the <i>neo</i> gene was also regulated by cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter.</p>
