Effects of transgenic cry1Ab rice pollen on fitness of Propylea japonica (Thunberg)

The transgenic rice lines Kemingdao 1 (KMD1) and Kemingdao 2 (KMD2) contain a synthetic cry1Ab gene derived from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner and are highly resistant to rice stem borers and foliage-feeding lepidopterans. Propylea japonica (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is an important predator of rice insect pests; it also uses rice pollen as a food source under natural conditions. In the present study, the effects of KMD1 and KMD2 pollen expressing Cry1Ab protein on the fitness of P. japonica were assessed in the laboratory. P. japonica larvae and adults were provided with the following four diets: KMD1 pollen with the aphid Myzus persicae, KMD2 pollen with M. persicae, nontransgenic Xiushui 11 (parent variety of KMD1 and KMD2) pollen with M. persicae, and M. persicae only (KMD1–pollen, KMD2–pollen, XS11–pollen, and aphid treatments, respectively). The results showed that the longevity of female adults in the KMD1–pollen treatment was significantly lower than that in the XS11–pollen treatment, but was not significantly different from that in the KMD2–pollen and aphid treatments. Newly emerged males in the KMD2–pollen treatment were evidently less vital than those in the XS11–pollen treatment, but not significantly different from those in the KMD1–pollen and aphid treatments. The development, survival and reproduction indices for the three pollen treatments did not differ significantly from one another. In short, Bt toxin expressed in Bt rice pollen had no evident negative impacts on P. japonica fitness when the pollen was used as a food by this beetle.