ABSTRACT
Cotton callus was determined to be a suitable bioasay for the tobacco budworm, Helicopvera virescens. H. virescens larvae were fed one of three treatments: commercial diet (control), salt-sensitive cotton callus (0 mM NaCl), or salt-tolerant cotton callus (150 mM NaCl). The larvae feeding on either variety of callus showed a significant reduction in developmental and survival rates when compared to larvae fed the commercial diet. The larvae fed salt-tolerant callus also showed significant reduction in development and survivability when compared to the larvae fed salt-sensitive callus. The negative effects could be due to higher concentrations of antioxidant enzymes or the salt content.
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