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General Information

Document type
  • Peer-reviewed journal article
GE organism
  • maize
GE trait
  • insect resistance
Country
  • Philippines
  • USA

Results

Equivalence
  • no effect
Safety for environment
  • no effect

Decomposition rates and residue-colonizing microbial communities of Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal protein Cry3Bb-expressing (Bt) and non-Bt corn hybrids in the field Open Access

Xue, K; Serohijos, RC; Devare, M; Thies, JE
Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2011 February. 77(3):839-846

Link to full text (open access, freely available)

PMID: 21148693 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01954-10 ISSN: 1098-5336

Abstract

Despite the rapid adoption of crops expressing the insecticidal Cry protein(s) from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), public concern continues to mount over the potential environmental impacts. Reduced residue decomposition rates and increased tissue lignin concentrations reported for some Bt corn hybrids have been highlighted recently as they may influence soil carbon dynamics. We assessed the effects of MON863 Bt corn, producing the Cry3Bb protein against the corn rootworm complex, on these aspects and associated decomposer communities by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis. Litterbags containing cobs, roots, or stalks plus leaves from Bt and unmodified corn with (non-Bt+I) or without (non-Bt) insecticide applied were placed on the soil surface and at a 10-cm depth in field plots planted with these crop treatments. The litterbags were recovered and analyzed after 3.5, 15.5, and 25 months. No significant effect of treatment (Bt, non-Bt, and non-Bt+I) was observed on initial tissue lignin concentrations, litter decomposition rate, or bacterial decomposer communities. The effect of treatment on fungal decomposer communities was minor, with only 1 of 16 comparisons yielding separation by treatment. Environmental factors (litterbag recovery year, litterbag placement, and plot history) led to significant differences for most measured variables. Combined, these results indicate that the differences detected were driven primarily by environmental factors rather than by any differences between the corn hybrids or the use of tefluthrin. We conclude that the Cry3Bb corn tested in this study is unlikely to affect carbon residence time or turnover in soils receiving these crop residues.

Keywords

Bt; decomposition; microbes; soil; lignin

Funding

Funding source
  • USAID
  • USDA
Funding country
  • United States
Funding type
  • government

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Cite this study

MLA

Xue, K, RC Serohijos, M Devare, JE Thies. "Decomposition rates and residue-colonizing microbial communities of Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal protein Cry3Bb-expressing (Bt) and non-Bt corn hybrids in the field." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 77.3 (2011): 839-846. Web. 13 Oct. 2024.

APA

Xue, K., Serohijos, RC., Devare, M., & Thies, JE. (2011). Decomposition rates and residue-colonizing microbial communities of Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal protein Cry3Bb-expressing (Bt) and non-Bt corn hybrids in the field. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 77(3), 839-846. doi:10.1128/AEM.01954-10

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