Influence of transgenic hybrid rice expressing a fused gene derived from cry1Ab and cry1Ac on primary insect pests and rice yield

Although dozens of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) rice lines have been developed, none of them has been released to farmers. Under field conditions, we evaluated the influence of a hybrid Bt rice on the primary rice insect pests and rice yield in 2005 and 2006. Four treatments were evaluated, including Bt and non-Bt rice treated with insecticides when necessary, and unprotected Bt and non-Bt rice. Unprotected Bt rice exhibited stable and high control of the three primary lepidopteran pests, Chilo suppressalis Walker, Tryporyza incertulas Walker and Cnaphalocrocis edinalis Güenée. Under unprotected conditions, larval densities of these three pests in Bt plots decreased by 87.5–100% compared to those in non-Bt plots, and percentages of damaged stems and leaves remained less than 0.6% during the entire rice growing season. In early rice growth stages, populations of two important planthoppers, Nilaparvata lugens Stål and Sogatella furcifera Hovarth, were significantly affected only by protection level (protected vs unprotected). However, in late rice growth stages (filling and maturing), densities of planthoppers were significantly affected both by protection level and by rice type (Bt vs non-Bt), and densities of N. lugens were significantly higher in Bt plots than in non-Bt plots under unprotected conditions. Pesticide sprays were reduced by 60 and 50% in protected Bt vs protected non-Bt plots in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Yield of unprotected Bt rice increased by 60–65% compared to unprotected non-Bt rice, but decreased by 28–36% compared to protected Bt rice. These results show that Bt rice increased yield greatly, but still required pesticide sprays to avoid losses caused by non-target insect pests.     

Comparative analysis of the proteomic and nutritional composition of transgenic rice seeds with Cry1ab/ac genes and their non-transgenic counterparts

Nutritional assessment of transgenic crops used for human food and animal feed is an important component of safety evaluations. Profiling techniques, such as proteomics, are currently used as complementary analytical tools to detect the unintended effects of transgenic. We analyzed the proteomic profiles and nutritional composition of transgenic rice seeds containing the Cry1Ab/Ac protein to assess the safety of these transgenic seeds. We focused primarily on the effects of genetic modification and growth environment. By comparing proteomic profiles, we found that 21 proteins were up- or down-regulated as a consequence of environmental influence (WT01 vs. WT02). Similarly, 20 to 22 protein levels were differentially modulated in transgenic rice seeds in comparison to their non-transgenic counterparts (T01 vs. WT01; T02 vs. WT02). These latter changes may be due to the influence of growth environment and the insertion of a single gene into the rice genome. Based on the nutrient composition analysis (proximates, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, vitamins and anti-nutritive components), we conclude that the nutritional quality of the rice from the transgenic lines was equivalent to that of its non-transgenic counterparts and that the effect of growth environment on the rice was no less than that of the single gene insertion.