Combined influence of Bt rice and rice dwarf virus on biological parameters of a non-target herbivore, Nephotettix cincticeps (Uhler) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 28;12(7):e0181258. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181258. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

The advent of genetically modified (GM) Bt rice creates the possibility of interactions among Bt crops, crop pathogens and non-target herbivores. In particular, information on how pathogen-infected Bt-expressing plants will influence non-target herbivores is necessary to predict the sustainability of GM cropping systems. Laboratory bioassays were conducted to evaluate the potential combined impacts of rice dwarf virus (RDV) and two Bt rice lines, T1C-19 (Cry1C) and T2A-1 (Cry2A), on non-target green rice leafhopper (GRLH), Nephotettix cincticeps (Uhler) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). In the first experiment, GRLHs feeding preference tests on Bt rice lines compared to a parental control rice line, MH63, were conducted. As rice plants were uninfected with RDV, GRLHs generally preferred the control MH63 line over the two Bt lines during the initial 8 h, with no significant preference during the following 64 h. As rice plants were infected with RDV, there were no clear preferences between the Bt rice lines and the control MH63 line. In the second experiment, we assessed the combined influence of RDV-infection status and Bt rice lines on GRLH biological parameters. Egg duration, adult weights, and male adult longevity were significantly affected on RDV-infected Bt rice. Other parameters, egg hatching rate, nymph survival and fecundity were not significantly influenced. We infer that interaction effect among two testing Bt rice lines and RDV will not lead to enlarged pest populations, thus demonstrating that growing these two Bt rice lines will poses negligible risk to GRLH in sustainable rice agroecosystems. Long-term field experiments to monitor the population dynamics of GRLHs at large scale need to be carried out to confirm the current results.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Hemiptera / physiology*
  • Hemiptera / virology*
  • Herbivory / physiology*
  • Oryza / physiology*
  • Plant Viruses / physiology*
  • Plants, Genetically Modified / virology*

Grants and funding

Financial supports were provided by the Special Research Projects for Developing Transgenic Plants, China (2016ZX08011-001, and 2014ZX08011-001) and the National Program on Key Basic Research Projects (973 Program, 2014CB138404), as well as the Rice Pests Management Research Group of the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program, China. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.