Reduced Mythimna separata infestation on Bt corn could benefit aphids

• 作者: Xiang-Wen Li Li-Xiao Du Lei Zhang Yu-Fa Peng Hong-Xia Hua J?rg Romeis Yun-He Li
• 来源期刊: 中国昆虫科学（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2021,（4）
• 所属期刊栏目: Original articles
• 页码范围: 1139-1146
• 页数: 8页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12833

摘要

Use of genetically engineered plants that express insecticidal Cry proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt)have been proven efficacious for managing lepi-dopteran pests.However,in some cases herbivores that are not targeted by the Bt trait have increased in importance.It has been suggested that reduced caterpillar damage to Bt crops could lead to decreased levels of induced plant defensive compounds which might benefit other non-target herbivores.Here we investigated the potential effect of reduced damage by larvae of Mythimna separata on aphid populations in Bt corn.We compared the perfor-mance of Rhopalosiphum maidis feeding on non-Bt corn plants that had been infested by M.separata larvae or were uninfested.The results showed that caterpillar-infested corn plants significantly reduced the fitness of R.maidis leading to a prolonged nymphal de-velopment time,reduced adult longevity and fecundity compared to uninfested plants.Consequently,the population growth rate of corn aphids feeding on caterpillar-infested corn plants was significantly lower than on uninfested plants.As expected,the aphids per-formed significantly better on Lepidoptera-resistant Bt corn than on non-Bt corn when plants were infested with M.separata,since the caterpillars caused very little damage to the Bt plants.The current findings indicate that reduced M.separata infestation could benefit aphid development in Bt corn.Bt corn has the potential to be commercialized in China in the near future and aphids and other non-target pests should be monitored in the farming fields.