Bt rice expressing Cry2Aa does not harm Cyrtorhinus lividipennis, a main predator of the nontarget herbivore Nilapavarta lugens

PLoS One. 2014 Nov 6;9(11):e112315. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112315. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

T2A-1 is a newly developed transgenic rice that expresses a synthesized cry2Aa gene driven by the maize ubiquitin promoter. T2A-1 exhibits high resistance against lepidopteran pests of rice. The brown planthopper, Nilapavarta lugens (Stål), is a main nontarget sap-sucking insect pest of rice, and Cyrtorhinus lividipennis (Reuter) is the major predator of the eggs and young nymphs of planthoppers. As C. lividipennis may expose to the Cry2Aa protein via N. lugens, it is therefore essential to assess the potential effects of transgenic cry2Aa rice on this predator. In the present study, three experiments were conducted to evaluate the ecological risk of transgenic cry2Aa rice to C. lividipennis: (1) a direct feeding experiment in which C. lividipennis was fed an artificial diet containing Cry2Aa at the dose of 10-time higher than that it may encounter in the realistic field condition; (2) a tritrophic experiment in which the Cry2Aa protein was delivered to C. lividipennis indirectly through prey eggs or nymphs; (3) a realistic field experiment in which the population dynamics of C. lividipennis were investigated using vacuum-suction. Both direct exposure to elevated doses of the Cry2Aa protein and prey-mediated exposure to realistic doses of the protein did not result in significant detrimental effects on the development, survival, female ratio and body weight of C. lividipennis. No significant differences in population density and population dynamics were observed between C. lividipennis in transgenic cry2Aa and nontransgenic rice fields. It may be concluded that transgenic cry2Aa rice had no detrimental effects on C. lividipennis. This study represents the first report of an assessment continuum for the effects of transgenic cry2Aa rice on C. lividipennis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins
  • Bacterial Proteins / biosynthesis*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Endotoxins / biosynthesis*
  • Endotoxins / genetics
  • Gene Expression*
  • Hemiptera / metabolism*
  • Hemolysin Proteins / biosynthesis*
  • Hemolysin Proteins / genetics
  • Oryza* / genetics
  • Oryza* / metabolism
  • Oryza* / parasitology
  • Plants, Genetically Modified* / genetics
  • Plants, Genetically Modified* / metabolism
  • Plants, Genetically Modified* / parasitology

Substances

  • Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Endotoxins
  • Hemolysin Proteins
  • insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Genetically Modified Organisms Breeding Major Project: Technology of Environmental Risk Assessment on Transgenic Rice (2014ZX08011-001). HH received the funding. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.