Project number: 18.00.19.08.01

Opportunities and Risks of New Breeding Technologies for the Functional Biodiversity of Arthropods

Plants produced using bioengineering methods can simplify agricultural practices, increase yields, and reduce environmental pollution from chemical pesticides. For the sustainable use of these plants, side-effects, including those impacting on biodiversity, must be kept to a minimum.

Agroscope investigates the ecological effects of plants with new traits with a special emphasis on beneficials, and analyses how these plants could improve existing production systems. For this, we develop methods and explore interactions between plants, herbivores and beneficial arthropods in the laboratory, in the greenhouse, and outdoors on the Protected Site.

Brunner S., Weichert H., Meissle M., Romeis J., Weber H.
Field trials reveal trade-offs between grain size and grain number in wheat ectopically expressing a barley sucrose transporter.
Field Crops Research, 316, 2024, 1-12.

Chen Y., Romeis J., Meissle M.
Addressing the challenges of non-target feeding studies with genetically engineered plant material – SmartStax maize and Daphnia magna.
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 225, 2021, 1-23.

Brock T.C.M., Elliott K.C., Gladbach A., Moermond C., Romeis J., Seiler T.-B., Solomon K., Dohmen G. P.
Open science in regulatory environmental risk assessment.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 17, (6), 2021, 1229-1242.

Meissle M., Kloos S., Romeis J.
Fate of multiple Bt proteins from stacked Bt maize in the predatory lady beetle Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae).
Environmental Pollution, 268, 2021, 1-18.

Li X.-W., Du L.-X., Zhang L., Peng Y.-F., Hua H.-X., Romeis J., Li Y.-H.
Reduced Mythimna separata infestation on Bt corn could benefit aphids.
Insect Science, 28, 2021, 1139-1146.

Chen Y., Romeis J., Meissle M.
Performance of Daphnia magna on flour, leaves, and pollen from different maize lines: Implications for risk assessment of genetically engineered crops.
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 212, 2021, 1-12.

Li Y., Wang Z., Romeis J.
Managing the invasive fall armyworm through biotech crops: a Chinese perspective.
Trends in Biotechnology, 39, (2), 2021, 105-107.

Kim, YJ, Kloos, S, Romeis J., Meissle M.
Effects of mCry51Aa2-producing cotton on the non-target spider mite Tetranychus urticae and the predatory bug Orius majusculus.
Journal of Pest Science, 94, 2020, 351-362.

Pan H., Yang X., Romeis J., Siegfried B.D., Zhou X.
Dietary RNAi toxicity assay exhibits differential responses to ingested dsRNAs among ladybeetles.
Pest Management Science, 76, 2020, 3606-3614.

Liu Q., Yang X., Tzin V., Peng Y., Romeis J., Li Y.
Plant breeding involving genetic engineering does not result in unacceptable unintended effects in rice relative to conventional cross-breeding.
The Plant Journal, 103, 2020, 2236-2249.

Deplazes-Zemp A., Grossniklaus U., Lefort F., Müller P., Romeis J., Rüegsegger A., Schoenenberger N., Spehn E.
Gene Drives: benefits, risks, and possible applications.
Swiss Academies Factsheets, 15, (4), 2020, 1-7.
other Languages: german | french

Ghazanfar M. U., Hagenbucher S., Romeis J., Grabenweger G., Meissle M.
Fluctuating temperatures influence the susceptibility of pest insects to biological control agents.
Journal of Pest Science, 93, 2020, 1007-1018.

Roberts A., Boeckman C. J., Mühl M., Romeis J., Teem J. L., Valicente F. H., Brown J. K., Edwards M. G., Levine S. L., Melnick R. L., Rodrigues T. B., Vélez A. M., Zhou X., Hellmich R. L.
Sublethal endpoints in non-target organism testing for insect-active GE crops.
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 8, (9 June), 2020, 1-10.

Romeis J., Widmer F.
Assessing the risks of topically applied dsRNA-based products to non-target arthropods.
Frontiers in Plant Science, 11, 2020, 1-11.

Eriksson D., Custers R., Björnberg K. E., Hansson S. O., Purnhagen K., Qaim M., Romeis J., Schiemann J., Schleissing S., Tosun J., Visser R. G. F.
Options to reform the European Union legislation on GMOs: Post-authorization and beyond.
Trends in Biotechnology, 38, (5), 2020, 465-467.

Eriksson D., Custers R., Björnberg K .E., Hansson S. O., Purnhagen K., Qaim M., Romeis J., Schiemann J., Schleissing S., Tosun J., Visser R. G. F.
Options to reform the European Union legislation on GMOs: Risk governance.
Trends in Biotechnology, 38, (4), 2020, 349-351.

Eriksson D., Custers R., Björnberg K .E., Hansson S. O., Purnhagen K., Qaim M., Romeis J., Schiemann J., Schleissing S., Tosun J., Visser R. G. F.
Options to reform the European Union legislation on GMOs: Scope and definitions.
Trends in Biotechnology, 38, (3), 2020, 231-234.

Romeis J., Meissle M.
Stacked Bt Proteins Pose No New Risks to Nontarget Arthropods.
Trends in Biotechnology, 38, (3), 2020, 234-236.

Romeis J., Collatz J., Glandorf D.C.M., Bonsall M.B.
The value of existing regulatory frameworks for the environmental risk assessment of agricultural pest control using gene drives.
Environmental Science and Policy, 108, 2020, 19-36.

Naranjo S. E., Hellmich R .L., Romeis J., Shelton A. M., Vélez A. M.
The role and use of genetically engineered insect-resistant crops in integrated pest management systems.
In: Integrated management of insect pests: Current and future developments. Publ. Kogan M., Heinrichs E. A., Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing. 2020, 283-340.

Devos Y., Craig W., Devlin R. H., Ippolito A., Leggatt R. A., Romeis J., Shaw R., Svendsen C., Topping C. J.
Using problem formulation for fit-for-purpose pre-market environmental risk assessments of regulated stressors.
EFSA Journal, 17, (S1), 2019.

Yang Y., Kloos S., Mora-Ramirez I., Romeis J., Brunner S., Li Y., Meissle M.
Transgenic winter wheat expressing the sucrose transporter HvSUT1 from barley does not affect aphid performance.
Insects, 10, (388), 2019, 1-15.

Haller S., Widmer F., Siegfried B.D., Zhuo X., Romeis J.
Responses of two ladybird beetle species (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) to dietary RNAi.
Pest Management Science, 75, (10), 2019, 2652-2662.

Hagenbucher S., Eisenring M., Meissle M., Rathore K.S., Romeis J.
Constitutive and induced insect resistance in RNAi-mediated ultra-low gossypol cottonseed cotton.
BMC Plant Biology, 19, 2019, 1-12.

Alvarez-Alfageme F., Devos Y., Muñoz-Guajardo I., Li Y., Romeis J., Meissle M.
Are ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) affected by Bt proteins expressed in genetically modified insect-resistant crops? A systematic review protocol.
Environmental Evidence, 8, (online), 2019, 1-13.

Schiemann J., Dietz-Pfeilstetter A., Hartung F., Kohl C., Romeis J., Sprink T.
Risk assessment and regulation of plants modified by modern biotechniques: current status and future challenges.
Annual Review of Plant Biology, 70, (April), 2019, 699-726.

Anderson J.A., Ellsworth P.C., Faria J. C., Head G. P., Owen M. D. K., Pilcher C. D., Shelton A. M., Meissle M.
Genetically engineered crops: Importance of diversified integrated pest management for agricultural sustainability.
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 7, 2019, 1-14.

Eisenring M., Naranjo S.E., Bacher S., Abbott A., Meissle M., Romeis J.
Release from plant-mediated indirect competition with caterpillars benefits plant bugs in Bt cotton.
Scientific Reports, 9, 2019, 2727.

Romeis J., Naranjo S.E., Meissle M., Shelton A.M.
Genetically engineered crops help support conservation biological control.
Biological Control, 130, 2019, 136-154.

Xie X., Cui Z., Wang Y., Wang Y.Y., Cao F., Romeis J., Peng Y., Li Y.
Bacillus thuringiensis maize expressing a fusion gene cry1Ab/cry1AcZM does not harm valued pollen feeders.
Toxins, 11, (1), 2019, 1-13.

Eisenring M., Glauser G., Meissle M., Romeis J.
Differential impact of herbivores from three feeding guilds on systemic secondary metabolite induction, phytohormone levels and plant-mediated herbivore interactions.
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 44, (12), 2018, 1178-1189.

Dahinden M., Romeis J., Selter L., Folkers G.
Neue Technologien in der Pflanzenforschung – eine Alternative zu Pflanzenschutzmitteln?: Tagungsband zur Fachtagung Dialog Grün.
In: Fachtagung Dialog Grün. 17. April, Publ. Dahinden M., Romeis J., Selter L., Folkers G., Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center (PSC), Zurich. 2018, 1-107.

Jiao Y., Hu X., Peng Y., Wu K., Romeis J., Li Y.
Bt rice plants may protect neighboring non-Bt rice plants against the striped stem borer Chilo suppressalis.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285, (1883), 2018.

Lüthi C., Alvarez-Alfageme F., Romeis J.
The bean α-amylase inhibitor αAI-1 in genetically modified chickpea seeds does not harm parasitoid wasps.
Pest Management Science, 74, 2018, 2444-2449.

Chen Y., Gao Y., Zhu H., Romeis J., Li Y., Peng Y., Chen X.
Effects of straw leachates from Cry1C-expressing transgenic rice on the development and reproduction of Daphnia magna.
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 165, 2018, 630-636.

Tian J.C., Wang G.W., Han H.L., Romeis J., Zhang F.C., Ye G.Y., Xie M.C., Wang G.Y., Lu Z.X.
The rice planthopper parasitoid Anagrus nilaparvatae is not at risk when feeding on honeydew derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) rice.
Pest Management Science, 74, (8), 2018, 1854-1860.

Meissle M., Romeis J.
Transfer of Cry1Ac and Cry2A proteins from genetically engineered Bt cotton to herbivores and predators.
Insect Science, 25, (5), 2018, 823-832.

Wang X., Liu Q., Meissle M., Peng Y., Wu K., Romeis J., Li Y.
Bt rice could provide ecological resistance against nontarget planthoppers.
Plant Biotechnology Journal, 16, (10), 2018, 1748-1755.

Brock T, Bigler F, Frampton G, Hogstrand C, Luttik R, Martin-Laurent F, Topping CJ, van der Werft W, Rortais A
Ecological recovery and resilience in environmental risk assessments at the European food safety authority.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 14, (5), 2018, 586-591.

Meissle M., De Schrijver A., Smagghe G.
IOBC-WPRS Working group "GMOs in Integrated Plant Production": Proceedings of the eighth meeting at Ghent (Belgium), 4-6 September, 2017.
IOBC-WPRS, Darmstadt. 2018, 110 pp.

Romeis J., Haller S., Widmer F.
Assessing non-target risks of RNAi-based insecticidal transgenic plants.
IOBC-WPRS Bulletin, 131, 2018, 90-93.

Meissle M., De Schrijver A.
GMOs in Integrated Plant Production – discussion update.
IOBC-WPRS Bulletin, 131, 2018, 69-71.

Shu Y., Romeis J., Meissle M.
No interactions of stacked Bt maize with the non-target aphid Rhopalosiphum padi and the spider mite Tetranychus urticae.
Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, (39), 2018, 1-8.

Yang Y., Zhang B., Zhou X., Romeis J., Peng Y., Li Y.
Toxicological and biochemical analyses demonstrate the absence of lethal or sublethal effects of cry1C and cry2A-expressing Bt rice on the collembolan Folsomia candida.
Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, (131), 2018, 1-10.

Tian J.-C., Wang X.-P., Chen Y., Romeis J., Naranjo S.E., Hellmich R.L., Wang P., Shelton A.M.
Bt cotton producing Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab does not harm two parasitoids, Cotesia marginiventris and Copidosoma floridanum.
Scientific Reports, 8, (307), 2018, 1-6.

Chen Y., Yang Y., Zhu H., Romeis J., Li Y., Peng Y., Chen X.
Safety of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1C protein for Daphnia magna based on different functional traits.
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 147, 2018, 631-636.