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Comparing the impact of conventional pesticide and use of a transgenic pest‐resistant crop on the beneficial carabid beetle Pterostichus melanarius
Author(s) -
Mulligan Evan A,
Ferry Natalie,
Jouanin Lise,
Walters Keith FA,
Port Gordon R,
Gatehouse Angharad MR
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
pest management science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.296
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1526-4998
pISSN - 1526-498X
DOI - 10.1002/ps.1276
Subject(s) - biology , pest analysis , pesticide , crop , brassica , genetically modified crops , agronomy , genetically modified maize , pest control , toxicology , horticulture , botany , transgene , biochemistry , gene
The potential impact of a chemical pesticide control method has been compared with that of transgenic plants expressing a protease inhibitor conferring insect resistance by utilising a tritrophic system comprising the crop plant Brassica napus (L.) (Oilseed rape), the pest mollusc Deroceras reticulatum (Müller) and the predatory carabid beetle Pterostichus melanarius (Illiger). Cypermethrin, as the most widely used pesticide in UK oilseed rape (OSR) cultivation, was selected as the conventional treatment. OSR expressing a cysteine protease inhibitor, oryzacystatin‐1 (OC‐1), was the transgenic comparator. In feeding trials, D. reticulatum showed no significant long‐term effects on measured life history parameters (survival, weight gain, food consumption) as a result of exposure to either the cypermethrin or OC‐1 treatment. However, D. reticulatum was able to respond to the presence of the dietary inhibitor by producing two novel proteases following exposure to OC‐1‐expressing OSR. Similarly, P. melanarius showed no detectable alterations in mortality, weight gain or food consumption when feeding on D. reticulatum previously fed either pesticide‐contaminated or GM plant material. Furthermore, as with the slug, a novel form of protease, approximately M r 27 kDa, was induced in the carabid in response to feeding on slugs fed OC‐1‐expressing OSR. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry