Bt Maize has No Effect on Plant Bug Fitness
August 8, 2008| |
One of the major concerns with the use of insecticidal protein-expressing transgenic crops is their possible effects on target organisms. Scientists from the Aachen University and University of Göttingen in Germany investigated the effect of the Bt-corn line Mon88017 on plant bugs, specifically the rice leaf bug (Trigonotylus caelestialium), as non-target organisms. The Cry3Bb1-expressing Bt-corn variety is resistant to the western corn rootworm, one of the most devastating crop pests in Europe.
Results of ELISA tests indicated that rice leaf bugs in Bt-corn plots ingested Cry3Bb1 at all stages of their life. Nymphs contained on average 8 ng (nanograms) Cry3Bb1. Adult insects, on the other hand, showed varying amounts of Cry3Bb1, ranging from a few to over 60 ng. Despite this exposure there were no indications of a negative impact of the Bt-corn and the potential stressor Cry3Bb1 on the rice leaf bug. The field densities of the rice leaf bug were always similar in MON88017, the near-isogenic line and conventional maize varieties.
The paper published by Transgenic Research is available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/836p55v111835448/fulltext.pdf Non subscribers can read the abstract at http://www.springerlink.com/content/836p55v111835448/?p=df06f249f0d64ccf850307b9b750a29d&pi=2
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