Variation among conventional cultivars could be used as a criterion for environmental safety assessment of Bt rice on nontarget arthropods.
The current difficulty facing risk evaluations of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops on nontarget arthropods (NTAs) is the lack of criteria for determining what represents unacceptable risk. In this study, we investigated the biological parameters in the laboratory and field population abundance of Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) on two Bt rice lines and the non-Bt parent, together with 14 other conventional rice cultivars. Significant difference were found in nymphal duration and fecundity of N. lugens fed on Bt rice KMD2, as well as field population density on 12 October, compared with non-Bt parent. However, compared with the variation among conventional rice cultivars, the variation of each parameter between Bt rice and the non-Bt parent was much smaller, which can be easily seen from low-high bar graphs and also the coefficient of variation value (C.V). The variation among conventional cultivars is proposed to be used as a criterion for the safety assessment of Bt rice on NTAs, particularly when statistically significant differences in several parameters are found between Bt rice and its non-Bt parent. Coefficient of variation is suggested as a promising parameter for ecological risk judgement of IRGM rice on NTAs.
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Fang
F
Wang
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Cong
C
Dang
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Xuefei
X
Chang
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.|Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310021, China.
Junce
J
Tian
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.|Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan 250100, China.
Zengbin
Z
Lu
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.|Institute of Virology and Biotechnology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310021, China.
Yang
Y
Chen
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Gongyin
G
Ye
D000818:Animals; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000502:physiology*; D060434:Herbivory; D009758:Nymph / Q000502:physiology*; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology