Rapid spread of a densovirus in a major crop pest following wide-scale adoption of Bt-cotton in China
- Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
- Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
- Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Abstract
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops have been widely planted and the effects of Bt-crops on populations of the target and non-target insect pests have been well studied. However, the effects of Bt-crops exposure on microorganisms that interact with crop pests have not previously been quantified. Here, we use laboratory and field data to show that infection of Helicoverpa armigera with a densovirus (HaDV2) is associated with its enhanced growth and tolerance to Bt-cotton. Moreover, field monitoring showed a much higher incidence of cotton bollworm infection with HaDV2 in regions cultivated with Bt-cotton than in regions without it, with the rate of densovirus infection increasing with increasing use of Bt-cotton. RNA-seq suggested tolerance to both baculovirus and Cry1Ac were enhanced via the immune-related pathways. These findings suggest that exposure to Bt-crops has selected for beneficial interactions between the target pest and a mutualistic microorganism that enhances its performance on Bt-crops under field conditions.
Data availability
RNA-seq data have been deposited in NCBI, see supplementary table 8.All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supplementary file.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
the Key Project for Breeding Genetic Modified Organisms (2019ZX08012004)
- Kongming Wu
the Key Project for Breeding Genetic Modified Organisms (2016ZX08012004)
- Kongming Wu
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/L026821/1)
- Kenneth Wilson
UK Research Council Global Challenges Research Fund Grant (BB/P023444/1)
- Kenneth Wilson
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2021, Xiao et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Rapid spread of a densovirus in a major crop pest following wide-scale adoption of Bt-cotton in China
eLife 10:e66913.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66913
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