Assessing the risk to nontarget organisms from Bt corn resistant to corn rootworms (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae): Tier-I testing with Orius insidiosus (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae).
A 14-d continuous dietary exposure bioassay using nymphs of the insidious flower bug, Orius insidiosus (Say) (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae), was conducted to assess nontarget impacts of genetically modified corn event MON 863 expressing the Cry3Bb1 protein for management of corn rootworms, Diabrotica spp. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Nymphs of O. insidiosus were continuously fed a bee pollen diet inoculated with a maximum hazard exposure dose (930 microg/g of diet) of the Cry3Bb1 protein for 14 d. The Cry3Bb1 protein at a concentration of 930 microg/g of diet had no adverse effect on the survival and development (to adults) of O. insidiosus nymphs. In contrast, when O. insidiosus nymphs were fed bee pollen diet treated with a hazard dose of the protease inhibitor E64 (53 microg/g of diet) or the stomach poison potassium arsenate (8.9 microg/g of diet), all nymphs died before developing to adults. Furthermore, statistical power analysis indicated that at levels of 80% power and a 5% type I error rate, the study design would have been able to detect a minimum 30% reduction in survival of test nymphs and a 20% reduction in nymphal development to the adults relative to the buffer control groups. Based on the maximum level (93 microg/g) of the Cry3Bb1 protein expressed in MON 863 corn tissues including leaves, roots, and pollen, findings from this study indicate that corn hybrids containing the MON 863 event have a minimum 10 times safety factor for nymphs of O. insidiosus and thus pose minimal risk to this beneficial insect.
Monsanto Company-Regulatory Environmental Technology Center/V2C, 800 North Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63167, USA. jian.duan@ars.usda.com
Jian J
JJ
Duan
Debra
D
Teixeira
Joseph E
JE
Huesing
Changjian
C
Jiang
D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000187:drug effects*; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000633:toxicity*; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000187:drug effects*; D009758:Nymph / Q000187:drug effects; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000469:parasitology; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology
C507666:Cry3Bbl endotoxin, Bacillus thuringiensis; D004731:Endotoxins