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Agronomy
Special Issues
Genetically Modified (GM) Crops and Pests Management
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Genetically Modified (GM) Crops and Pests Management

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2026 | Viewed by 4217

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Lanzhi Han

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Guest Editor
Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: agricultural insects and pest management; environmental risk assessment of GM crops
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Fei Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
Interests: integrated pest management; Bt crops
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In agro-ecosystems, insect pests cause significant economic losses to agricultural production, making effective pest management essential for food security. Conventional methods, particularly chemical insecticides, have often failed to prevent the extensive damage caused by these pests. As a result, genetically modified (GM) crops have emerged as a promising alternative for pest control.

This Special Issue aims to present recent research advances, prospects, and challenges related to the use of GM crops for pest management. It also aims to explore the strategies developed to overcome these challenges.

This Special Issue covers a wide range of topics related to the application of GM crops in pest management. This includes the development and application of novel GM crops, their efficacy against target pests, and environmental safety assessments. The scope also includes the ecological adaptability and survival of GM crops, their unintended effects, and their impact on non-target organisms and biodiversity. Additionally, this Special Issue will explore gene flow, the degradation of GM plant residues in soil, and their effects on soil ecosystems. Potential evolutionary risks associated with pest resistance to GM crops and strategies for managing this resistance will also be addressed, as well as the integration of the biological and ecological characteristics of target pests in resistance management.

Prof. Dr. Lanzhi Han
Dr. Fei Yang
Guest Editors

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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 single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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.

Keywords

  • insect-resistant transgenic crops
  • pest management
  • environmental risk assessment
  • ecological adaptability and survival competitiveness
  • gene flow
  • unintended environmental effects
  • non-target effects and biodiversity
  • insect resistance evolution and management

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 1758 KB  
Article
Population-Level Effects Shape Nutritional Modulation of Bt Susceptibility in a Caterpillar Pest
by Carrie A. Deans, Gregory A. Sword, Spencer T. Behmer, Eric C. Burkness, Marianne Pusztai-Carey and William D. Hutchison
Agronomy 2026, 16(2), 174; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16020174 - 9 Jan 2026
Viewed by 447
Abstract
Plant nutrient content is spatially and temporally dynamic, exposing insect herbivores to substantial nutritional variability. Such variability can constrain insects to feeding on sub-optimal diets, but it can also allow them to regulate their intake towards an optimal nutrient balance. Nutrient regulation is [...] Read more.
Plant nutrient content is spatially and temporally dynamic, exposing insect herbivores to substantial nutritional variability. Such variability can constrain insects to feeding on sub-optimal diets, but it can also allow them to regulate their intake towards an optimal nutrient balance. Nutrient regulation is important in pest management, as the nutritional state of insects may alter their susceptibility to insecticides. Diet macronutrient balance has been shown to significantly affect the susceptibility of Helicoverpa zea larvae to endotoxins produced by transgenic crops containing Bacillus thurigiensis (Bt) genes. However, this was demonstrated using a highly inbred laboratory strain, limiting extrapolation to field populations. Here, we test the impact of field-relevant macronutrient variability on the efficacy of two Bt toxins across three field populations to increase the relevance to resistance monitoring and management. While differences in susceptibility were limited across populations, dietary effects were highly population specific. The Bt toxin that was most affected by diet and the diet that supported optimal survival and performance varied across populations. These findings indicate that nutrition can strongly influence Bt susceptibility, but these effects are influenced by population-level differences. To accurately assess Bt susceptibility in the field, bioassay diets should be tailored to the nutritional ecology of local populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetically Modified (GM) Crops and Pests Management)
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11 pages, 1049 KB  
Article
Functional Characterization of Nuclear Receptor MuFTZ-F1 in the Bean Flower Thrips, Megalurothrips usitatus
by Zexin Zhong, Jianxing Li, Jian Chen, Chunxiao Yang, Chaoqun Zhang, Riyuan Tang, Wen Xie, Youjun Zhang and Huipeng Pan
Agronomy 2025, 15(11), 2593; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15112593 - 11 Nov 2025
Viewed by 641
Abstract
The development of novel control strategies for the major cowpea pest Megalurothrips usitatus requires a deeper understanding of its critical molecular regulators. The nuclear receptor Fushi-tarazu factor 1 (FTZ-F1) is a conserved master regulator of insect development and reproduction, yet its [...] Read more.
The development of novel control strategies for the major cowpea pest Megalurothrips usitatus requires a deeper understanding of its critical molecular regulators. The nuclear receptor Fushi-tarazu factor 1 (FTZ-F1) is a conserved master regulator of insect development and reproduction, yet its function in M. usitatus remains uncharacterized. In this study, we investigated the expression and functional role of MuFTZ-F1 in this pest. RT-qPCR analysis revealed ubiquitous MuFTZ-F1 expression across all developmental stages and in major adult tissues. RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated knockdown of MuFTZ-F1 in the 2nd instar nymphs caused severe developmental defects, including impaired eclosion and significantly increased mortality. Mechanistically, silencing led to a significant reduction in the molting hormone ecdysone, accounting for the observed molting arrest. Furthermore, MuFTZ-F1 knockdown significantly decreased dopamine titers in both nymphs and female adults, suggesting its involvement in regulating this key biogenic amine beyond developmental processes. Our results provide the first functional evidence that MuFTZ-F1 is indispensable for nymphal development and survival in M. usitatus, mediated through the regulation of ecdysone. The profound lethal effect of MuFTZ-F1 silencing underscores its promise as a target for RNAi-based pest management strategies against this economically important pest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetically Modified (GM) Crops and Pests Management)
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13 pages, 1037 KB  
Article
Screening of Positive Controls for Environmental Safety Assessment of RNAi Products
by Kaixuan Ding, Xiaowei Yang, Qinli Zhou, Geng Chen, Fengping Chen, Yao Tan, Jing Li and Lanzhi Han
Agronomy 2025, 15(10), 2399; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15102399 - 16 Oct 2025
Viewed by 1129
Abstract
RNA interference (RNAi) represents a promising pest control strategy, applicable to both insect-resistant genetically modified (IRGM) crops and sprayable RNAi insecticides. These products can achieve sequence-specific gene silencing and require rigorous environmental risk assessment (ERA) prior to approval. However, current environmental safety assessments [...] Read more.
RNA interference (RNAi) represents a promising pest control strategy, applicable to both insect-resistant genetically modified (IRGM) crops and sprayable RNAi insecticides. These products can achieve sequence-specific gene silencing and require rigorous environmental risk assessment (ERA) prior to approval. However, current environmental safety assessments of RNAi products and other RNAi experiments frequently use double-stranded EGFP (dsEGFP) as a negative control, while suitable RNAi-based positive controls are lacking. Sometimes conventional chemical toxins (e.g., chlorpyrifos) or protein inhibitors (e.g., trypsin inhibitors) are used as substitutes, but their distinct mechanisms, persistence, and metabolism make them inappropriate for RNAi-specific evaluations. In this study, we evaluated the suitability of RNAi-based positive controls for assessing non-target effects on Harmonia axyridis, a widely distributed predatory beetle used as a bioindicator in biosafety assessments. Under laboratory conditions, we tested one microRNA (miR-92a) and two double-stranded RNAs (dsHaSnf7 and dsHaDiap1) for their effects on H. axyridis. Injection of miR-92a showed no significant difference in mortality compared to controls, whereas dsHaSnf7 and dsHaDiap1 significantly reduced survival rates and target gene expression, as confirmed by qPCR. These findings suggest that HaSnf7 and HaDiap1 are suitable candidate genes for establishing RNAi-specific positive controls in environmental risk assessments of RNAi-based products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetically Modified (GM) Crops and Pests Management)
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Review

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18 pages, 970 KB  
Review
CRISPR-Based Biosensing for Genetically Modified Organism Detection: Current Applications and Future Perspectives
by Jingying Yan, Yuan Zhou, Junhui Sun, Sanling Wu, Zhongjie Ding, Liang Ni and Jianjun Wang
Agronomy 2025, 15(12), 2912; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122912 - 18 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1168
Abstract
The rapid global expansion of genetically modified (GM) crops requires fast, on-site detection methods. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR-associated (CRISPR/Cas) systems offer a promising platform for decentralized GM organism (GMO) monitoring. This review focuses specifically on the application of this technology in [...] Read more.
The rapid global expansion of genetically modified (GM) crops requires fast, on-site detection methods. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR-associated (CRISPR/Cas) systems offer a promising platform for decentralized GM organism (GMO) monitoring. This review focuses specifically on the application of this technology in agriculture and food supply chains, diverging from previous reviews centered on clinical diagnostics. We examine the mechanisms of key CRISPR effectors (e.g., Cas12a, Cas13a) and their integration into diagnostic platforms (e.g., DETECTR, SHERLOCK) for detecting transgenic elements (e.g., CaMV35S promoter). A dedicated comparison of signal readout modalities, including fluorescence, lateral flow, and electrochemical sensing, highlights their suitability for different GMO detection scenarios, from field screening to laboratory confirmation. Finally, we discuss current challenges, including multiplexing and standardization, and outline future directions, such as the engineering of novel Cas variants and integration with smartphone technology. CRISPR-based diagnostics are poised to become indispensable tools for decentralized, efficient, and reliable GMO detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetically Modified (GM) Crops and Pests Management)
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