Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

Transgenic insect resistance traits increase corn yield and yield stability

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Yield stability in isogenic corn hybrid pairs grown in strip trials.
Figure 2: Distributions of grain yield and trait effect.
Figure 3: Geographic distribution of trait effect and technology adoption.

References

  1. Armstrong, C.L. et al. Crop Sci. 35, 550–557 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Dillehay, B.L. et al. Agron. J. 96, 818–824 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Vaughn, T. et al. Crop Sci. 45, 931–938 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Carpenter, J.E. Nat. Biotechnol. 28, 319–321 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lauer, J. & Wedberg, J. J. Prod. Agric. 12, 373–376 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Stanger, T.F. & Lauer, J.G. Agron. J. 98, 914–921 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cox, W.J., Hanchar, J. & Shields, E. Agron. J. 101, 1530–1537 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Coulter, J.A., Nafziger, E.D., Janssen, M.R. & Pedersen, P. Agron. J. 102, 103–111 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Godfrey, L.D., Norman, J.M. & Holtzer, T.O. Environ. Entomol. 21, 1060–1071 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Spike, B.P. & Tollefson, J.J. J. Econ. Entomol. 82, 226–231 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Mason, C.E. et al. in North Central Region Extension Publication No. 327. (Iowa State University, Ames IA; 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Meinke, L.J. et al. Agric. For. Entomol. 11, 29–46 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Lynch, R.E. J. Econ. Entomol. 73, 159–164 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Calvin, D.D., Knapp, M.C., Xinquan, K., Poston, F.L. & Welch, S.M. J. Econ. Entomol. 81, 1203–1208 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Bode, W.M. & Calvin, D.D. J. Econ. Entomol. 83, 1595–1603 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Mayo, Z.B. in Field Evaluation of Insecticides for Control of Larvae of Corn Rootworms (Krysan, J.L. & Miller, T.A., eds.) 183–203 (Springer, New York, 1986).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Oleson, J.D., Park, Y., Nowatzki, T.M. & Tollefson, J.J. J. Econ. Entomol. 98, 1–8 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Dun, Z., Mitchell, P.D. & Agosti, M. J. Appl. Entomol. 134, 409–419 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Finlay, K.W. & Wilkinson, G.N. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 14, 742–754 (1963).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Tollenaar, A. & Lee, E.A. Field Crops Res. 75, 161–169 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Goodwin, K.B. & Ker, A.P. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 80, 139–153 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Bowman, A.W. & Azzalini, A. Applied Smoothing Techniques for Data Analysis (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Griliches, Z. Science 132, 275–280 (1960).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Gray, M.E., Sappington, T.W., Miller, N.J., Moeser, J. & Bohn, M.O. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 54, 303–321 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. David, B., Lobell, K.G.C. & Christopher, B. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 34, 179–204 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Qaim, M. & Zilberman, D. Science 299, 900–902 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Subramanian, A. & Qaim, M. World Dev. 37, 256–267 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. National Research Council. The Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States (National Academies Press, Washington; 2010).

  29. Folcher, L. et al. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 30, 711–719 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Hutchison, W.D. et al. Science 330, 222–225 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Burney, J.A., Davis, S.J. & Lobell, D.B. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107, 12052–12057 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank to GfK Kynetec (http://www.gfk.com/gfk-kynetec/) for sharing sales volume data. This manuscript has been improved by reviews from T. Dennehy, M. Tollenaar, D. Sorensen, B. Goodwin and T. Voelker.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael D Edgerton.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

All of the authors are current or former employees of Monsanto, which has developed and sold the hybrids and transgenes described in this report. The authors may hold Monsanto stock or stock options in Monsanto.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Methods, Supplementary Tables 1,2 and Supplementary Figure 1 (PDF 834 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Edgerton, M., Fridgen, J., Anderson, J. et al. Transgenic insect resistance traits increase corn yield and yield stability. Nat Biotechnol 30, 493–496 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2259

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2259

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research