Does Cry1Ac Bt-toxin impair development of worker larvae of Africanized honey bee?

Abstract

The western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) is a widespread pollinator species. The present study aimed to test if Africanized honey bee larvae are negatively affected by the ingestion of diet contaminated with the Bacillus thunringiensis toxin Cry1Ac, which is expressed in GM cotton plants. The toxin activity was confirmed in bioassays with the velvetbean caterpillar (Anticarsia gemmatalis), a soybean pest species susceptible to Cry1Ac. The honey bee larvae were subjected to ingestion of either pure larval diet (control), diluted larval diet (diluted control) or larval diet diluted in a Cry1Ac solution at a concentration compatible with the maximum possible field exposure. Although diluted diet slightly increased larval mortality, Cry1Ac ingestion did not affect survival, developmental time, and neither adult body mass nor size, indicating that GM plants are unlikely to significantly impair the development of honey bee larvae. The larval-rearing system reported here was suitable to assess the lethal and sub-lethal effects of GM expressed toxins against honey bee larvae.