In \(Bt\) cotton, the \(Bt\) toxin present in plant tissue as protoxin is converted into active toxin due to

(c) : Soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produces proteins that kill certain insects like lepidopterans (tobacco budworm, armyworm), coleopterans (beetles) and dipterans (flies, mosquitoes). B.thuringiensis forms some protein crystals. These crystals contain a toxic insecticidal protein. This toxin does not kill the Bacillus (bacterium) because it exists as inactive protoxins in them. But, once an insect ingests it, it is converted into an active form of toxin due to the alkaline \(pH\) of the alimentary canal. The activated toxin binds to the surface of midgut epithelial cells and create pores that cause swelling and lysis and finally cause death of the insect.