Eggplant shoot and fruit borer (ESFB), Leucinodes orbonalis Guenée, is a major insect pest of eggplant,
Solanum melongena L. In this study, cry1Aa3 gene was introduced into eggplant cv. Kashi Taru through
Agrobacterium-tumefaciens mediated transformation. Hypocotyl explants from 7 day-old seedlings were
pre-cultured for two days and inoculated with Agrobacterium strain EHA105 harboring a synthetic
cry1Aa3 gene with full codon-modification in a binary vector. PCR and Southern blot analyses confirmed
the presence of single copy insertions of the cry1Aa3 gene in plants of four independent transformation
events. In addition, single copy gene insertions were confirmed by segregation analysis of T1 seedlings.
Expression of the cry1Aa3 transcripts was confirmed by qRT-PCR; and ELISA revealed presence of
Cry1Aa3 protein in fresh leaves (30.9e44.3 ng g1) and fruits (20.5e35.7 ng g1). Expression of the
Cry1Aa3 protein resulted in high ESFB larval mortality in the shoot as well as fruit tissues of the
transformed eggplant lines. Such transgenic eggplant lines possessing resistance to the ESFB could
reduce dependency on pesticide use for ESFB control, leading to a safer environment and eggplant fruits.