Impacts of transgenic cry1Ab rice on non-target planthoppers and their main predator Cyrtorhinus lividipennis (Hemiptera: Miridae)—A case study of the compatibility of Bt rice with biological control

Transgenic rice containing insecticidal protein(s) from Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) effectively control lepidopteran pests under laboratory and field conditions. However, Bt rice has not been widely commercialized. A major concern regarding the deployment of Bt rice is its potential impact on non-target arthropods, including herbivorous insect pests and biological control agents (predators and parasitoids) in the rice ecosystem. A 2-year field study was conducted at 3 sites in Zhejiang Province, China to assess the impacts of a homozygous transgenic japonica rice line KMD1 (Bt rice) containing a synthetic cry1Ab gene from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner. The impacts on three planthoppers (Homoptera: Delphacidae), Sogatella furcifera (Horváth), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) and Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén), and the natural enemy, Cyrtorhinus lividipennis (Reuter) (Hemiptera: Miridae), were evaluated using two sampling methods: vacuum-suction and Malaise trap. Population densities of planthoppers and C. lividipennis were not significantly affected by rice type (Bt/non-Bt) over the season at any of the 3 sites in each year, regardless of sampling methods. Both in Bt rice and non-Bt rice plots, S. furcifera was the predominant species of planthoppers as determined by either of the two sampling methods, and comprised >50% of the planthoppers at each site. No consistent effects of Bt rice and Bt rice × sampling date interaction on population dynamics of the predominant planthopper species, S. furcifera, and the predator, C. lividipennis, were observed throughout the sampling period. Overall, this 2-year field study indicates that, in comparison with non-Bt rice, Bt rice did not lead to higher planthopper populations and did not negatively affect the predator C. lividipennis. These results suggest that use of Bt rice may provide control of the key lepidopteran pests while promoting the key biological control agent of planthopppers, C. lividipennis.