Increased Resistance of Bt Aspens to Phratora vitellinae (Coleoptera) Leads to Increased Plant Growth under Experimental Conditions

One main aim with genetic modification (GM) of trees is to produce plants that are resistant to various types of pests. The effectiveness of GM-introduced toxins against specific pest species on trees has been shown in the laboratory. However, few attempts have been made to determine if the production of these toxins and reduced herbivory will translate into increased tree productivity. We established an experiment with two lines of potted aspens (Populus tremula×Populus tremuloides) which express Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) toxins and the isogenic wildtype (Wt) in the lab. The goal was to explore how experimentally controlled levels of a targeted leaf beetle Phratora vitellinae (Coleoptera; Chrysomelidae) influenced leaf damage severity, leaf beetle performance and the growth of aspen. Four patterns emerged. Firstly, we found clear evidence that Bt toxins reduce leaf damage. The damage on the Bt lines was significantly lower than for the Wt line in high and low herbivory treatment, respectively. Secondly, Bt toxins had a significant negative effect on leaf beetle survival. Thirdly, the significant decrease in height of the Wt line with increasing herbivory and the relative increase in height of one of the Bt lines compared with the Wt line in the presence of herbivores suggest that this also might translate into increased biomass production of Bt trees. This realized benefit was context-dependent and is likely to be manifested only if herbivore pressure is sufficiently high. However, these herbivore induced patterns did not translate into significant affect on biomass, instead one Bt line overall produced less biomass than the Wt. Fourthly, compiled results suggest that the growth reduction in one Bt line as indicated here is likely due to events in the transformation process and that a hypothesized cost of producing Bt toxins is of subordinate significance

Innate and Introduced Resistance Traits in Genetically Modified Aspen Trees and Their Effect on Leaf Beetle Feeding

Genetic modifications of trees may provide many benefits, e. g. increase production, and mitigate climate change and herbivore impacts on forests. However, genetic modifications sometimes result in unintended effects on innate traits involved in plant-herbivore interactions. The importance of intentional changes in plant defence relative to unintentional changes and the natural variation among clones used in forestry has not been evaluated. By a combination of biochemical measurements and bioassays we investigated if insect feeding on GM aspens is more affected by intentional (induction Bt toxins) than of unintentional, non-target changes or clonal differences in innate plant defence. We used two hybrid wildtype clones (Populus tremula x P. tremuloides and Populus tremula x P. alba) of aspen that have been genetically modified for 1) insect resistance (two Bt lines) or 2) reduced lignin properties (two lines COMT and CAD), respectively. Our measurements of biochemical properties suggest that unintended changes by GM modifications (occurring due to events in the transformation process) in innate plant defence (phenolic compounds) were generally smaller but fundamentally different than differences seen among different wildtype clones (e. g. quantitative and qualitative, respectively). However, neither clonal differences between the two wildtype clones nor unintended changes in phytochemistry influenced consumption by the leaf beetle (Phratora vitellinae). By contrast, Bt induction had a strong direct intended effect as well as a post experiment effect on leaf beetle consumption. The latter suggested lasting reduction of beetle fitness following Bt exposure that is likely due to intestinal damage suffered by the initial Bt exposure. We conclude that Bt induction clearly have intended effects on a target species. Furthermore, the effect of unintended changes in innate plant defence traits, when they occur, are context dependent and have in comparison to Bt induction probably less pronounced effect on targeted herbivores