Bees and GM rape
When bees gather nectar and pollen from flowers, they do not distinguish between genetically modified and conventional plants. Some biological safety research projects have studied the effects this could have on the environment.
Bees are important pollinators of oilseed rape. Rape pollen is carried by bees from flower to flower, even over large distances. Bees also eat the pollen and use it to rear their young. When GM rape is grown in the area, what proportion of the bees' diet consists of transgenic rape pollen?
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Research projects: summary of resultsTopic: Both wind and insects are involved in dispersing rape pollen. The extent of pollen dispersal of genetically modified herbicide-resistant rape both by wind and insects was determined under realistic conditions. Results: The most important insects involved in the transfer of oilseed rape pollen to related plant species are wild bees. In comparative studies with transgenic and non-transgenic rape varieties, no differences were found in the species composition of the flower-visiting insects. Pollen transfer, and subsequent outcrossing of the herbicide‑tolerance gene to non-transgenic rape plants, is therefore possible. |
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Topic: The honeybee and two wild bee species were used to find out what proportion of the total pollen collected comes from GM rape. Bees use pollen to feed their larvae.Results: All the bee species under investigation collected transgenic rape pollen from the trial plots and fed it to their broods. The proportion of GM rape pollen collected was 0.1-3.0 percent for the honeybee, and up to 3.4 percent for the bumblebee. The mason bee, however, collected up to 11 percent transgenic pollen. A buffer zone of conventional rape is not enough to limit pollen dispersal by bees to adjacent crops. Even at a distance of one hundred metres, more than 30 percent of the brood cells of the mason bees contained transgenic oilseed rape pollen. The proportion of transgenic pollen in the diet of mason bee larvae amounted to 1.6 percent at a distance of 25 metres and 0.8 percent at a distance of 100 metres. |
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Topic: Can gene transfer take place from oilseed rape pollen to micro-organisms in the digestive tract of bees?Results: No gene transfer of herbicide-resistance genes (active substance: glufosinate ) from transgenic oilseed rape pollen to intestinal bacteria was detected under natural conditions. Some 140 different species of bacteria were identified in the digestive tract of the bees. More than a third of all intestinal bacteria were tolerant of the herbicide glufosinate, but none of the resistant bacteria had absorbed the pat gene from the GM oilseed rape. The resistance was therefore natural and had nothing to do with the cultivation of GM rape. |
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