Ny artikkel: Reduced Fitness of Daphnia magna Fed a Bt-Transgenic

27.03.2008

av Thomas Bøhn, Raul Primicerio, Dag O. Hessen og Terje Traavik

New article documents negative fitness consequences for the model organism Daphnia magna when fed Bt-transgenic maize (link videre til abstract)

New article shows how an invasive fish species competes with and excludes a native fish species over a 14-year period.

Abstract
Genetically modified (GM) maize expressing
the Bt-toxin Cry1Ab (Bt-maize) was tested for effects on
survival, growth, and reproduction of the water flea
Daphnia magna, a crustacean arthropod commonly used as
a model organism in ecotoxicological studies. In three
repeated experiments, D. magna were fed 100% ground
maize in suspension, using either GM or isogenic unmodified
(UM) maize. D. magna fed GM-maize showed a
significantly reduced fitness performance: The mortality
was higher, a lower proportion of females reached sexual
maturation, and the overall egg production was lower
compared to D. magna fed UM isogenic maize. We conclude
that the tested variety of Bt-maize and its UM
counterpart do not have the same quality as food sources
for this widely used model organism. The combination of a
reduced fitness performance combined with earlier onset of
reproduction of D. magna fed Bt-maize indicates a toxic
effect rather than a lower nutritional value of the GMmaize.

Article in Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology