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Limited ecological risk of insect-resistance transgene flow from cultivated rice to its wild ancestor based on life-cycle fitness assessment

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  • Life & Medical Sciences
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Science Bulletin

Abstract

Ecological impact caused by transgene flow from genetically engineered (GE) crops to their wild relatives is largely determined by the fitness effect brought by a transgene. To estimate such impact is critical for the ecological risk assessment prior to the commercialization of GE crops. We produced F1 and F2 hybrid descendants from crosses of two insect-resistant GE rice lines (Bt, Bt/CpTI) and their non-GE rice parent with a wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) population to estimate the transgenic fitness. Insect damages and life-cycle fitness of GE and non-GE crop–wild hybrid descendants as well as their wild parent were examined in a common-garden experiment. No significant differences in insect damages were observed between the wild rice parent and GE hybrid descendants under high-insect pressure. The wild parent showed significantly greater relative survival-regeneration ratios than its GE and non-GE hybrid descendants under both high- and low-insect pressure. However, more seeds were produced in GE hybrid descendants than their non-GE counterparts under high-insect pressure. Given that the introduction of Bt and Bt/CpTI transgenes did not provide greater insect resistance to crop–wild hybrid descendants than their wild parent, we predict that transgene flow from GE insect-resistant rice to wild rice populations may not cause considerable ecological risks.

摘要

转基因渐渗到作物野生近缘种带来的生态影响取决于其适合度效应, 而对生态影响的评价是转基因作物商品化应用的安全保障。利用抗虫转基因 (Bt, Bt/CpTI) 水稻及其非转基因亲本与普通野生稻 (Oryza rufipogon) 杂交而产生F1和F2代杂种群体, 我们在同质园实验条件下分析了转基因对杂种抗虫能力和适合度的影响。结果表明: 即使在高虫压条件下野生稻亲本与转基因杂种的虫害水平无显著差异; 野生亲本的生存和再生能力显著高于杂种后代; 在高虫压条件下转基因杂种的种子生产能力显著高于非转基因杂种。鉴于抗虫转基因并未给杂种植株带来高于野生稻亲本的抗虫能力, 我们预测抗虫转基因渐渗到野生稻不带来明显生态风险。

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31330014) and the National Program of Development of Transgenic New Species of China (2016ZX08011-006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Lei Li, Xiao Yang, Lei Wang, Huanxin Yan & Bao-Rong Lu

  2. Fujian Province Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering for Agriculture, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou, 350003, China

    Jun Su & Feng Wang

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  1. Lei Li
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Correspondence to Bao-Rong Lu.

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Li, L., Yang, X., Wang, L. et al. Limited ecological risk of insect-resistance transgene flow from cultivated rice to its wild ancestor based on life-cycle fitness assessment. Sci. Bull. 61, 1440–1450 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-016-1152-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-016-1152-5

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