Potential Effects of Oilseed Rape Expressing Oryzacystatin-1 (OC-1) and of Purified Insecticidal Proteins on Larvae of the Solitary Bee Osmia bicornis
Date: 06/10/2008
Introduction: By Roger Konrad, Natalie Ferry, Angharad M. R. Gatehouse, Dirk Babendreier, 16 July 2008. Genetically modified (GM) crops expressing proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are cultivated on a rapidly increasing acreage worldwide since their commercialization in the mid 1990s, and, with the exception of cotton expressing both Bt and CpTI (serine protease inhibitor from cowpea), are the only insect-resistant GM plants to have been brought to the marketplace. However, various strategies based on the use of plant or animal derived genes are actively being pursued. A major concern raised in connection with the cultivation of transgenic plants is their potential to harm beneficial insects such as bees. By pollinating wild and cultivated plants, bees make a significant contribution to the functioning of natural ecosystems and to the human food supply. Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are regarded as the most economically important pollinators of agricultural crops worldwide. However, solitary bees (both wild and managed) also provide an important pollination service and their value for agriculture is increasingly being recognized. This is particularly true for areas and crops where honey bees are absent or are inefficient pollinators, and under these conditions non-Apis bees can substantially enhance production. In the late 1950s, the use of non-Apis bees (i.e. the two solitary bees Nomia melanderi Cockerell and Megachile rotundata Fabricius) started to become important in commercial pollination. Since then, several solitary bee species (mainly members of the genus Osmia) have been developed into manageable crop pollinators and have often been found to contribute to higher crop yields than honey bees (e.g.).
