Differential Responses of Conventional and Bt-Transgenic Cotton to Potassium Deficiency

Bacillus thuringensis (Bt) transgenic (insect-resistant) cotton cultivars senesce prematurely under potassium (K⁺) deficiency, more often than conventional cultivars, in the North China Plain. To verify if Bt-transgenic cotton was more susceptible to K⁺ deficit, two transgenic cultivars, ‘CCRI 41’ and ‘DP 99B’, and two conventional cultivars, ‘CCRI 35’ and ‘CCRI 36’, selected from widely used cultivars in China, were used in a seedling hydroponic study. The culture solution K⁺ concentration was 0.5 mM for high K⁺ and 0.02 mM for low K⁺ conditions. Seedlings of all four cultivars accumulated more dry matter and K⁺ when grown at high K⁺ than low K⁺ conditions. However, under low K⁺ condition, the dry weight and K⁺ content of Bt-transgenic cultivars CCRI 41 and DP 99B were lower than those of the conventional cultivars CCRI 36 and CCRI 35. The results indicated that Bt-transgenic cultivars CCRI 41 and DP 99B were more sensitive to K⁺ deficiency than conventional cultivars CCRI 36 and CCRI 35, which could be the reason for premature senescence symptoms observed from fields of Bt-transgenic cotton under K⁺ deficiency. Seedlings of all four cultivars had a higher K⁺ use efficiency (KUE) under low K⁺ than high K⁺ conditions, but the KUE did not account for the differential responses between Bt-transgenic and conventional cultivars at the low K⁺ concentration. The K⁺ depletion results did not reveal the mechanism for the above differential responses in V_max and K_m of the seedlings either. Further experiments with more cultivars are needed to clarify the differential mechanisms in these genotypes.