Bt brinjal fruit and shoot borer larvae feed on Bt brinjal plants, they ingest the Bt protein Cry1Ac along with plant tissue. In the insect gut, which is alkaline with a pH >9.5, the protein is solubilized and activated by gut proteases. The Bt protein binds to specific receptor proteins present in the insect membrane, resulting in pore formation in the membranes. This leads to disruption of digestive processes, paralysis, and subsequent death of the fruit and shoot borer larvae. The first agreement to develop Bt Brinjal was signed in 2005 between India’s leading seed company, Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company, better known
Vegetable Lamb of Tartary Vegetable Lamb of Tartary The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary (Latin: "Agnus scythicus" or "Planta Tartarica Barometz") is a legendary zoophyte of Central Asia, once believed to grow sheep as its fruit. It was believed the sheep were connected to the plant by an umbilical cord and grazed the land around the plant. When all accessible foliage was gone, both the plant and sheep died. Underlying the legend is the cotton plant, which was unknown in Northern Europe before the Norman conquest of Sicily. Thomas Browne's "Pseudodoxia Epidemica" named it as the "Boramez". In Ephraim Chambers' "Cyclopædia", Agnus scythicus was described