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The influence of Bt-transgenic maize pollen on the bacterial diversity in the midgut of Apis mellifera ligustica

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Abstract

Honeybees are subjected to direct contact with transgenic maize pollen due to their feeding activities on pollen. The potential side effects of transgenic cry1Ah-maize pollen on the midgut bacteria of the larvae and worker bees of Apis mellifera ligustica were investigated through denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis under both laboratory and field conditions. Newly emerged bees were fed transgenic cry1Ah-maize pollen, normal maize pollen, linear cry1Ah gene DNA, supercoiled plasmid DNA, and sugar syrup under the laboratory conditions. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the midgut bacterial community composition among the five treatments. No significant effects were observed in the midgut communities between larvae and adult honeybees fed transgenic cry1Ah-maize pollen and non-transgenic maize pollen in the field trials.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program; No. 2009CB118902) and the National Transgenic Major Program of China (No. 2009ZX08011-016B).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, People’s Republic of China

    Li-Li Geng, Hong-Juan Cui, Chang-Long Shu, Fu-Ping Song & Jie Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100093, People’s Republic of China

    Ping-Li Dai & Ting Zhou

  3. Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    Zhi-Hong Lang

Authors
  1. Li-Li Geng
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  2. Hong-Juan Cui
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  3. Ping-Li Dai
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  4. Zhi-Hong Lang
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  5. Chang-Long Shu
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  6. Ting Zhou
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  7. Fu-Ping Song
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  8. Jie Zhang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jie Zhang.

Additional information

Manuscript editor: Monique Gauthier

L’influence du pollen de maïs-Bt transgénique sur la diversité bactérienne de l’intestin moyen d’ Apis mellifera ligustica

Maïs transgénique / Apis mellifera / flore intestinale / électrophorèse sur gel à gradient dénaturant

Der Einfluss von Bt-transgenem Maispollen auf die bakterielle Diversität im Mitteldarm von Apis mellifera ligustica

transgener Mais / Apis mellifera / Darmflora / denaturierende Gradientengelelektrophorese

Li-Li Geng and Hong-Juan Cui contributed equally to this work.

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Geng, LL., Cui, HJ., Dai, PL. et al. The influence of Bt-transgenic maize pollen on the bacterial diversity in the midgut of Apis mellifera ligustica . Apidologie 44, 198–208 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-012-0171-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-012-0171-8

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