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Direction générale

Responsable Microbiome du sol

Responsable Microbiome des plantes

Insect pollinator monitoring in and around a netted plot of apple trees: Biosafety implications for genetically engineered fruit trees.

Institutional Repository Agroscope

Meissle M., Waldburger M., Jeanneret P., Broggini G., Patocchi A., Romeis J.

Insect pollinator monitoring in and around a netted plot of apple trees: Biosafety implications for genetically engineered fruit trees.

Agronomy, 13, (84), 2023.

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Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13010084

Riassunto:

The complete netting of orchards is one strategy to protect fruit trees from pest and pathogen damage by reducing insect movement. When the cultivated trees were derived from genetic engineering (GE), reduced pollinator movement may also reduce outcrossing to cultivated or wild non-GE trees. We report on a field study over four years in a plot of apple tress supplied with insect side nets and covered with hail nets that were closed from shortly before flowering to harvest. A reduced number of arthropods in general, and large bees in particular, were recorded inside the netted plot compared with outside. However, wild bees colonized the plot before the net was closed and built up populations inside. An additional experiment demonstrated that small bees were able to cross the hail net. While the nets were effective in excluding large bees as active pollen vectors, the proportion of small bees acting as such remained unquantified. Furthermore, a companion study showed occasional cross-pollination events through the netting. For the field release of GE apple trees, acceptable levels of outcrossing thus need to be defined.

ISSN Online: 2073-4395
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13010084
ID pubblicazione (Codice web): 52959 Inviare via e-mail