Bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) survival, pollen usage, and reproduction are not affected by oxalate oxidase at realistic concentrations in American chestnut (Castanea dentata) pollen.

ABSTRACT: Transgenic American chestnut trees expressing a wheat gene for oxalate oxidase (OxO) can tolerate chestnut blight, but as with any new restoration material, they should be carefully evaluated before being released into the environment. Native pollinators such as bumble bees are of particular interest: Bombus impatiens use pollen for both a source of nutrition and a hive building material. Bees are regular visitors to American chestnut flowers and likely contribute to their pollination, so depending on transgene expression in chestnut pollen, they could be exposed to this novel source of OxO during potential restoration efforts. To evaluate the potential risk to bees from OxO exposure, queenless microcolonies of bumble bees were supplied with American chestnut pollen containing one of two c

SUBMITTER: Newhouse AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8580921 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature