Assessing the life cycle of pests, Diaphania pulverulentalis (Hampson) and Maconellicoccus hirsutus Green, reared on transgenic mulberry.

The study aims at investigating the growth and development of two common pests in mulberry namely the leaf roller (Diaphania pulverulentalis) and mealy bug (Macconellicoccus hirsutus), reared on transgenic mulberry plants in comparison with the wild type plants V1, a ruling variety. Both the pests completed normal life cycle on all the four different transgenic plants (Ip::HVA1, Cp::HVA1, Cp::BCH1, Cp::osmotin and Ip::osmotin) expressing three different transgenes (HVA1, BCH1 and osmotin) in the presence of the marker gene NPTII. There was no significant difference in the incubation period of the eggs, growth of first to fifth instar larvae and total larval period of the leaf roller reared on transgenic and non-transgenic mulberry. The pre-pupal, pupal, adult stages and adult fecundity also did not differ. The variations in the duration of the different nymphal instars, and their total duration was not significant in the case of mealy bug, when reared on the transgenics. The adult longevity and total life span of female mealy bugs, and the pupal period and total life span of the male bugs were on par with those reared on the wild type plants. The study indicates that the life cycle of both the pests, which are common in a mulberry ecosystem, were not affected by feeding on any of the transgenic mulberry plants at any stage of their growth and development. © King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2021.