PLoS ONE (2013) 8 (11 - e79032)

Xiao Sun, Wen Zhou, Hao Liu, Aijun Zhang, Chao-Ren Ai, Shuang-Shuang Zhou, Chang-Xiang Zhou and Man-Qun Wang (2013)
Transgenic Bt rice does not challenge host preference of the target pest of rice leaffolder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)
PLoS ONE 8 (11 - e79032)
Abstract:
Background
Transgenic Bt rice line T2A-1 expresses a synthesized cry2A gene that shows high resistance to Lepidoptera pests, including Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Plant volatile orientation cues and the physical characteristics of the leaf surface play key roles in host location or host-plant acceptance of phytophagous insects. These volatile compounds and physical traits may become altered in Bt rice and it is not known whether this influences the behavior of C. medinalis when searching for oviposition sites.
Results
The results of electronic nose analysis showed that the Radar map of Bt rice cultivars was analogous to the non- Bt rice cultivars at each growing stage. PCA analysis was able to partly discriminate between some of the Bt vs. non-Bt rice sensors, but could not to separate Bt cultivars from non-Bt cultivars. The total ion chromatogram between Bt and non-Bt rice cultivars at the seedling, booting and tillering stages were similar and 25 main compounds were identified by GC-MS. For most compounds, there was no significant difference in compound quantities between Bt and non-Bt rice cultivars at equivalent growth stages. The densities of the tubercle papicles and the trichomes on the upper and lower surfaces were statistically equal in Bt and non-Bt rice. The target pest, C. medinalis, was attracted to host rice plants, but it could not distinguish between the transgenic and the isogenic rice lines.
Conclusions
There were no significant differences between the Bt rice line, T2A-1 and the non-Bt rice for volatiles produced or in its physical characteristics and there were no negative impacts on C. medinalis oviposition behavior. These results add to the mounting evidence that Bt rice has no negative impact on the target insect oviposition behavior.
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Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Man-Qun Wang, Aijun Zhang

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Cnaphalocrocis medinalis	Rice (Oryza)	China (south)
Bacillus thuringiensis genes in crops (entomopathogen)	Cnaphalocrocis medinalis	Rice (Oryza)