Assessing the risks of insect resistant transgenic plants on entomophagous arthropods Bt-maize expressing Cry1Ab as a case study

One of the primary concerns related to theadoption of insect resistant transgenic plantsin the environment is the detrimental effectthat these may pose on non-target organisms,including entomophagous arthropods (parasitoidsfand predators) which have an important functionin regulating pests. Despite the fact thatregulatory bodies require information regardingthe potential risk of releasing transgenicplants in the environment, to date, no specificprotocols have been designed for assessing therisks of insect resistant transgenic crops onentomophagous arthropods. Here a framework forrisk assessment is proposed to evaluate theeffects of insect resistant plants onentomophagous arthropods. Using maizeexpressing the Bacillus thuringiensisgene which codes for the Cry1Ab toxin, weillustrate the procedure necessary forassessing the risks. As a first step, it isrequired to determine which entomophagousarthropods play a major role in regulatingmaize pests, and which may be at risk. Becausethe risk which transgenic plants pose toentomophagous arthropods depends on both, theirexposure, and their sensitivity to theinsecticidal protein, it is essential todetermine, as a second step, if and at whatlevel organisms are exposed to the transgenecompound. Exposure will be associated with thefeeding behaviour of phytophagous andentomophagous arthropods together with thetissue and cell specific temporal and spatialexpression of the insecticidal protein. Forthose organisms which could potentially beexposed to the insecticidal protein,sensitivity tests, as a third step, should beperformed to assess toxicity. The testingprocedure and the type of tests which should beadopted to quantify the effects of insectresistant plants on natural enemies aresubsequently illustrated. Taking the greenlacewing Chrysoperla carnea as anexample, we propose a procedure on how toperform tests and give evidence that Bt-maizeposes no risk to this predator.