title: Developing biosafety risk hypotheses for invertebrates exposed to GM plants using conceptual food webs: a case study with elevated triacylglyceride levels in ryegrass.
abstract: Regulators are acutely aware of the need for meaningful risk assessments to support           decisions on the safety of GM crops to non-target invertebrates in determining their           suitability for field release. We describe a process for developing appropriate, testable           risk hypotheses for invertebrates in agroecosystems that might be exposed to plants           developed by GM and future novel technologies. An existing model (PRONTI) generates a           ranked list of invertebrate species for biosafety testing by accessing a database of           biological, ecological and food web information about species which occur in cropping           environments and their potential interactions with a particular stressor (Eco           Invertebase). Our objective in this contribution is to explore and further utilise these           resources to assist in the process of problem formulation by identifying potentially           significant effects of the stressor on the invertebrate community and the ecosystem           services they provide. We propose that for high ranking species, a conceptual food web           using information in Eco Invertebase is constructed, and using an accepted regulatory risk           analysis framework, the likelihood of risk, and magnitude of impact for each link in the           food web is evaluated. Using as filters only those risks evaluated as likely to extremely           likely, and the magnitude of an effect being considered as moderate to massive, the most           significant potential effects can be identified. A stepwise approach is suggested to           develop a sequence of appropriate tests. The GM ryegrass plant used as the "stressor" in           this study has been modified to increase triacylglyceride levels in foliage by 100% to           increase the metabolisable energy content of forage for grazing animals. The high-ranking           "test" species chosen to illustrate the concept are New Zealand native species           Wiseana cervinata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae),           Persectania aversa (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and the           self-introduced grey field slug, Deroceras reticulatum (Müller).
authors.affiliation: AgResearch, Invermay Agricultural Centre, Private Bag 50034, Mosgiel, New Zealand. barbara.barratt@agresearch.co.nz
authors.forename: Barbara I P
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Barratt
authors.forename: Jacqui H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: Elisabeth P J
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.forename: Louise A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Malone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020387:Food Chain; D049851:Gastropoda / Q000378:metabolism; D008129:Lolium / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009036:Moths / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides