A Genetically Modified Anti-Plasmodium Bacterium Is Harmless to the Foragers of the Stingless Bee Partamona helleri.

ABSTRACT: Paratransgenesis consists of genetically engineering an insect symbiont to control vector-borne diseases. Biosafety assessments are a prerequisite for the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Assessments rely on the measurement of the possible impacts of GMOs on different organisms, including beneficial organisms, such as pollinators. The bacterium Serratia AS1 has been genetically modified to express anti-Plasmodium effector proteins and does not impose a fitness cost on mosquitoes that carry it. In the present study, we assessed the impact of this bacterium on the native bee Partamona helleri (Meliponini), an ecologically important species in Brazil. Serratia eGFP AS1 (recombinant strain) or a wild strain of Serratia marcescens were suspended in a sucrose solution and fed to for

SUBMITTER: Viana TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9840896 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature