title: Impact of single and stacked insect-resistant Bt-cotton on the honey bee and silkworm.
abstract: Transgenic insect-resistant cotton (Bt cotton) has been extensively planted in China, but its effects on non-targeted insect species such as the economically important honey bee (Apis mellifera) and silkworm (Bombyx mori) currently are unknown. In this study, pollen from two Bt cotton cultivars, one expressing Cry1Ac/EPSPS and the other expressing Cry1Ac/Cry2Ab, were used to evaluate the effects of Bt cotton on adult honey bees and silkworm larvae. Laboratory feeding studies showed no adverse effects on the survival, cumulative consumption, and total hemocyte count (THC) of A. mellifera fed with Bt pollen for 7 days. No effects on the survival or development of B. mori larvae were observed either. A marginally significant difference between Cry1Ac/Cry2Ab cotton and the conventional cotton on the THC of the 3(rd) day of 5(th) B. mori instar larvae was observed only at the two highest pollen densities (approximately 900 and 8000 grains/cm(2)), which are much higher than the pollen deposition that occurs under normal field conditions. The results of this study show that pollen of the tested Bt cotton varieties carried no lethal or sublethal risk for A. mellifera, and the risk for B. mori was negligible.
authors.affiliation: Hubei Insect Resources Utilization and Sustainable Pest Management Key Laboratory, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China ; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Amani
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mannakkara
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Chaoliang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Lizhen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D012831:Bombyx / Q000502:physiology*; D060467:Disease Resistance; D003368:Gossypium; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011058:Pollen / Q000378:metabolism; D054817:Pollination
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins
references.citation: GM Crops. 2010 Jan-Feb;1(1):8-12
references.pmid: 21912206
references.citation: PLoS One. 2011;6(12):e28174
references.pmid: 22194811
references.citation: Curr Microbiol. 1999 Jul;39(1):14-20
references.pmid: 10387111
references.citation: Biol Lett. 2010 Aug 23;6(4):562-5
references.pmid: 20089536
references.citation: Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2008 Jun;70(2):327-33
references.pmid: 18206234
references.citation: Ecotoxicology. 2012 Jul;21(5):1291-300
references.pmid: 22447470
references.citation: Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2009 May;72(4):1163-9
references.pmid: 19285343
references.citation: Science. 2008 Sep 19;321(5896):1676-8
references.pmid: 18801998
references.citation: Nat Biotechnol. 2008 Feb;26(2):203-8
references.pmid: 18259178
references.citation: PLoS One. 2008 Jan 09;3(1):e1415
references.pmid: 18183296
references.citation: Nature. 2012 Jul 19;487(7407):362-5
references.pmid: 22722864
references.citation: Nat Biotechnol. 2002 Jun;20(6):567-74
references.pmid: 12042859
references.citation: Ecotoxicology. 2010 Nov;19(8):1612-9
references.pmid: 20872243
references.citation: Microbiol Rev. 1989 Jun;53(2):242-55
references.pmid: 2666844
references.citation: Annu Rev Entomol. 2007;52:81-106
references.pmid: 16842032
references.citation: Oecologia. 2000 Oct;125(2):241-248
references.pmid: 24595835
references.citation: PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e59589
references.pmid: 23533634
references.citation: Ecotoxicology. 2010 Nov;19(8):1452-9
references.pmid: 20700762
references.citation: Ecotoxicology. 2012 Nov;21(8):2214-21
references.pmid: 22868904
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2007 Feb 7;274(1608):303-13
references.pmid: 17164193
references.citation: Transgenic Res. 2011 Feb;20(1):1-22
references.pmid: 20938806
references.citation: J Insect Physiol. 2008 Oct-Nov;54(10-11):1392-9
references.pmid: 18761014
references.citation: Chemosphere. 2012 May;87(7):803-12
references.pmid: 22342338
references.citation: Evolution. 2005 Oct;59(10):2270-4
references.pmid: 16405170
references.citation: Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2012 May;79:232-237
references.pmid: 22364780
references.citation: Mol Microbiol. 1990 Dec;4(12):2087-94
references.pmid: 2089222
references.citation: Ecotoxicology. 2010 Nov;19(8):1642-4
references.pmid: 20882339