Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 May;4(5):373-89.
doi: 10.3390/toxins4050373. Epub 2012 May 24.

Effects of two varieties of Bacillus thuringiensis maize on the biology of Plodia interpunctella

Aiko Gryspeirt  1 , Jean-Claude Grégoire
Affiliations

Effects of two varieties of Bacillus thuringiensis maize on the biology of Plodia interpunctella

Aiko Gryspeirt et al. Toxins (Basel). 2012 May.

Abstract

On the market since 1996, genetically modified plants expressing an insecticidal toxin (Cry toxin stemmed from Bacillus thuringiensis) target several lepidopteran and coleopteran pests. In this study, we assessed the impact of two varieties of Bt maize producing different toxins (Cry1Ab or Cry1Fa, respectively) on the biology of a storage pest: Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). The Indianmeal moths were susceptible to both toxins but showed an escape behavior only from Cry1Fa. The weight of females issued from larvae reared on Cry1Ab increased with increasing toxin concentration, but adults of both sexes reared on Cry1Fa had decreased weight. Both toxins increased development time from egg to adult regardless of sex and had no impact on the male adult lifespan. Finally, we recorded a time lag between metamorphosis from the non-Bt and the Bt diets, which increased proportionally to Cry concentration in the Bt diet.

Keywords: Bt maize; Plodia interpunctella; biological parameters; cry toxin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Plodia interpunctella susceptibility to Cry concentration in the rearing diet (% survival insects).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of days (mean ± SD) between egg stage and adult emergence for Plodia interpunctella in relation to the Cry concentration in the rearing diet.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Adults available for random mating. We considered the day of emergence of the first adult and the day of death of the last adult in a same zone (e.g., the 0.18 Cry1Ab zone). We calculated a similar time interval for the non-Bt zone. The percentage of adults available or not available for random mating was calculated using the overlapping time interval between the Bt and non-Bt zones and the adult density.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Percentage of adults from the Bt zone and the non-Bt zone available for random mating in relation to the Cry toxin concentration in the rearing diet
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Vaeck M., Reynaerts A., Hofte H., Jansens S., De Beuckeleer M., Dean C., Zabeau M., Montagu M.V., Leemans J. Transgenic plants protected from insect attack. Nature. 1987;328:33–37.
    1. Perlak F.J., Fuchs R.L., Dean D.A., McPherson S.L., Fischhoff D.A. Modification of the coding sequence enhances plant expression of insect control protein genes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 1991;88:3324–3328. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gill S.S., Cowles E.A., Pietrantonio P.V. The mode of action of Bacillus thuringiensis endotoxins. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 1992;37:615–634. doi: 10.1146/annurev.en.37.010192.003151. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ferré J., Escriche B., Bel Y., Rie J. Biochemistry and genetics of insect resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal crystal proteins. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 1995;132:1–7.
    1. Alyokhin A., Ferro D. Relative fitness of Colorado potato beetle (Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae) resistant and susceptible to the Bacillus thuringiensis Cry3A toxin. J. Econ. Entomol. 1999;92:510–515.

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources