Effects of 60-Week Feeding Diet Containing Bt Rice Expressing the Cry1Ab Protein on the Offspring of Inbred Wuzhishan Pigs Fed the Same Diet

Abstract

We evaluated the chronic effects of Bt rice carrying the Cry1Ab protein (1.64 mg/kg) on offspring of highly inbred WZSP, fed with Bt rice for 360 days, in a 60-week feeding study. The WZSP offspring (n = 27) were assigned to two groups (Minghui86 group, female n = 6, male n = 5; Bt group, female n = 11, male n = 5). The average obtained Cry1Ab protein dosage for female and male pigs was 1.003 and 1.234 mg/kg body weight after 10 weeks of feeding, respectively. The experimental feed in the study was nutritionally matched in both groups. The average daily gain and feed conversion ratio of the females in week 3 and males from weeks 1 to 10 were different between the Bt and Minghui86 groups (P < 0.05), and the body weight of the male pigs in week 2 was greater in the Minghui86 group than that of the Bt group (P < 0.05). No other differences were observed, and there were no significant differences in the serum sex steroid level, hematology parameters, relative organ weights, or histopathology. Although differences in some serum chemistry parameters (alanine aminotransferase of female pigs and alkaline phosphatase of male pigs) were observed, they were not considered treatment-related. On the basis of these results, long-term intake of transgenic rice carrying Cry1Ab protein exerts no unintended adverse effects on WZSP offspring.

Effects of Feeding Genetically Modified Crops to Domestic Animals: A Review

“…Many kinds of research were conducted to evaluate the safety of GM feeding in pigs and rabbits either by giving Bt rice (Liu et al, 2018a, Liu et al, 2018b, Liu et al, 2017 or Bt maize (Chen et al, 2016, Yalçin et al, 2018 presented in Table 2. Chen et al, (2016) conducted a study to investigate the chronic effect of transgenic maize comprise of Cry1Ab protein (1.64 mg/kg) to evaluate the growth performance, immune response and health of Wuzhishan pig after 196-day GM maize feeding.…”

“…Longterm feeding Bt corn results had no adverse effects of GM maize on pigs. Later on, Liu et al, (2017) performed an experiment to evaluate the chronic effects of Bt rice carrying the Cry1Ab protein (1.64 mg/kg) on offspring of highly inbred Wuzhishan pigs. The result showed that only difference occurs in the average daily gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of the females in week 3 and males from weeks 1 to 10 were different between both groups and the body weight of the male pigs in week 2 was greater in the non-GM group than that of the Bt group (P<0.05).…”

“…Country: China, Production stage: 3-month-old pigs Experimental design: Non-GM (female n = 6, male n = 5), Gm-rice (female n = 11, male n = 5) Duration of experiment: 360 days Studied parameters: Growth, hematology, organ weights and histopathology Observations: The average daily gain and feed conversion ratio of the female pigs in week 3 and the male pigs in weeks 1 were significantly different (P<0.05) between the Bt and isogenic groups. References:(Liu et al, 2017) 3 Country: China, Production stage: 3-month-old pigs Experimental design: Non-GM group (n= 26), GM group (n= 27) Duration of experiment: 360 and 420 days (Two generations) Studied parameters: Gut microbiota, histopathology Observations: No adverse effects of GM feeding observed References: (Liu et al, 2018b) 4 Country: China, Production stage: 40 days old pigs Experimental design: Isogenic corn-soybean meal-control diet, Bt corn-soybean meal-control diet Duration of experiment: 196 days Studied parameters: Growth, immune response, and health Observations: No adverse effects of GM feeding observed References: (Chen et alExperimental design: A control group (3 female, 3 male), GM maize treated group (3 female, 3 male) Duration of experiment: parental, first-generation and second-generation Studied parameters: Liver and kidney organ weights, malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels of liver and kidney tissues Observations: Increase in liver weights and decrease in kidney weights observed as generations passed. Significant decrease in GSH and an increase in MDA in all three generations fed with GM maize.…”

No Effect of Bt-transgenic Rice on the Tritrophic Interaction of the Stored Rice, the Maize Weevil Sitophilus Zeamais and the Parasitoid Wasp Theocolax elegans

“…However, transgenic Bt rice is safer to aquatic ecosystems than its non-transgenic counterpart. The abundance and diversity of zooplankton were significantly higher in Bt rice fields than non- Bt rice fields, because Bt rice required reduced pesticide application therefore produced lower pesticide residues in the field water body 25,26 . Finally, safety of Bt -transgenic rice to the vertebrates were investigated.…”

“…Finally, safety of Bt -transgenic rice to the vertebrates were investigated. Impact of Bt transgenic rice on frogs 27,28 , rats 29–32 , pigs 26 , and macaques 33 was intensively studied. Through a 90-days feeding assay, no differences were observed between the rats feeding on genetically modified rice and non-genetically modified rice in term of a range of parameters, including microflora composition, intestinal permeability, epithelial structure, fecal enzymes, bacterial activity, and intestinal immunity 34 .…”