Higher yields and reduced pesticide impacts are needed to mitigate the effects of agricultural intensification. A 2-year farm-scale evaluation of 81 commercial fields in Arizona show that use of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton reduced insecticide use, whereas transgenic cotton with Bt protein and herbicide resistance (BtHr) did not affect herbicide use. Transgenic cotton had higher yield than nontransgenic cotton for any given number of insecticide applications. However, nontransgenic, Bt and BtHr cotton had similar yields overall, largely because higher insecticide use with nontransgenic cotton improved control of key pests. Unlike Bt and BtHr cotton, insecticides reduced the diversity of nontarget insects. Several other agronomic and ecological factors also affected biodiversity. Nevertheless, pairwise comparisons of diversity of nontarget insects in cotton fields with diversity in adjacent noncultivated sites revealed similar effects of cultivation of transgenic and nontransgenic cotton on biodiversity. The results indicate that impacts of agricultural intensification can be reduced when replacement of broad-spectrum insecticides by narrow-spectrum Bt crops does not reduce control of pests not affected by Bt crops.agricultural sustainability ͉ environmental impact ͉ transgenic crops T he increasing world population and changes in consumption patterns may necessitate significant agricultural intensification in the next 50 years (1, 2). Unless crop yield is improved and release of fertilizers and pesticides from croplands is reduced, such intensification could augment contamination and perturbation of managed and natural ecosystems, ultimately harming biodiversity and public health (1-4). It was proposed that transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops could be valuable tools for increasing agricultural productivity while minimizing the environmental impacts of agriculture (1, 2). However, the potential effects of transgenic crops on nontarget arthropods have caused concern, especially in regions where agricultural land is important to sustain biodiversity (5-7).Although Bt crops are grown extensively worldwide (8), no large-scale studies had been performed to simultaneously test whether they have favorable agricultural effects and minimal impacts on nontarget arthropods. Here, we report results of a 2-year farm-scale evaluation of the effects of transgenic cotton on biodiversity, pesticide use, and yield. We studied 81 commercial fields in a region of 6,600 km 2 in Arizona, where Bt cotton represented 48% and 62% of the cotton planted in the first and second year of the study, respectively. Forty fields were planted to nontransgenic (nonTr) cotton, 21 fields to transgenic cotton producing the Bt toxin Cry1Ac (Bt), and 20 fields to cotton with Bt protein and herbicide resistance (BtHr). Bt cotton with Cry1Ac controls the pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), a major insect pest of cotton (9, 10). Results and DiscussionEffects of Transgenic Cotton on Pesticide Use. Transgenic cotton was treate...

Fitness costs associated with insect resistance to transgenic crops producing toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) reduce the fitness on non-Bt refuge plants of resistant individuals relative to susceptible individuals. Because costs may vary among host plants, choosing refuge cultivars that increase the dominance or magnitude of costs could help to delay resistance. Specifically, cultivars with high concentrations of toxic phytochemicals could magnify costs. To test this hypothesis, we compared life history traits of three independent sets of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), populations on two cotton cultivars that differed in antibiosis against this cotton pest. Each set had an unselected susceptible population, a resistant population derived by selection from the susceptible population, and the F1 progeny of the susceptible and resistant populations. Confirming previous findings with pink bollworm feeding on cotton, costs primarily affected survival and were recessive on both cultivars. The magnitude of the survival cost did not differ between cultivars. Although the experimental results did not reveal differences between cultivars in the magnitude or dominance of costs, modeling results suggest that differences between cultivars in pink bollworm survival could affect resistance evolution. Thus, knowledge of the interaction between host plants and fitness costs associated with resistance to Bt crops could be helpful in guiding the choice of refuge cultivars.

Refuges of non-Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., are used to delay Bt resistance in pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), a pest that eats cotton seeds. Contamination of refuges by Bt transgenes could reduce the efficacy of this strategy. Previously, three types of contamination were identified in refuges: 1) homozygous Bt cotton plants, with 100% of their seeds producing the Bt toxin Cry1Ac; 2) hemizygous Bt plants with 70-80% of their seeds producing Cry1Ac; and 3) non-Bt plants that outcrossed with Bt plants, resulting in bolls with Cry1Ac in 12-17% of their seeds. Here, we used laboratory bioassays to examine the effects of Bt contamination on feeding behavior and survival of pink bollworm that were resistant (rr), susceptible (ss), or heterozygous for resistance (rs) to Cry1Ac. In choice tests, rr and rs larvae did not differ from ss in preference for non-Bt versus Bt seeds. Survival of rr and rs also did not differ from ss on artificial outcrossed bolls (a mixture of 20% Bt and 80% non-Bt cotton seeds). On artificial hemizygous Bt bolls (70% Bt seeds) and homozygous Bt bolls (100% Bt seeds), rr had higher survival than ss, although rs and ss did not differ. In a simulation model, levels of refuge contamination observed in the field had negligible effects on resistance evolution in pink bollworm. However, in hypothetical simulations where contamination conferred a selective advantage to rs over ss individuals in refuges, resistance evolution was accelerated.

Transgenic crops producing toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) kill insect pests and can reduce reliance on insecticide sprays. Although Bt cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and Bt corn (Zea mays L.) covered 26 million ha worldwide in 2005, their success could be cut short by evolution of pest resistance. Monitoring the early phases of pest resistance to Bt crops is crucial, but it has been extremely difficult because bioassays usually cannot detect heterozygotes harboring one allele for resistance. We report here monitoring of resistance to Bt cotton with DNA-based screening, which detects single resistance alleles in heterozygotes. We used polymerase chain reaction primers that specifically amplify three mutant alleles of a cadherin gene linked with resistance to Bt cotton in pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), a major pest. We screened DNA of 5,571 insects derived from 59 cotton fields in Arizona, California, and Texas during 2001-2005. No resistance alleles were detected despite a decade of exposure to Bt cotton. In conjunction with data from bioassays and field efficacy tests, the results reported here contradict predictions of rapid pest resistance to Bt crops.

We evaluated effects of the insect growth regulator pyriproxyfen on Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (B biotype) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) males and females in laboratory bioassays. Insects were treated with pyriproxyfen as either eggs or nymphs. In all tests, the LC50 for a laboratory-selected resistant strain was at least 620 times greater than for an unselected susceptible strain. When insects were treated as eggs, survival did not differ between males and females of either strain. When insects were treated as nymphs, survival did not differ between susceptible males and susceptible females, but resistant males had higher mortality than resistant females. The dominance of resistance decreased as pyriproxyfen concentration increased. Resistance was partially or completely dominant at the lowest concentration tested and completely recessive at the highest concentration tested. Hybrid female progeny from reciprocal crosses between the susceptible and resistant strains responded alike in bioassays; thus, maternal effects were not evident. Rapid evolution of resistance to pyriproxyfen could occur if individuals in field populations had resistance with traits similar to those of the laboratory-selected strain examined here.