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Evaluating the effects of transgenic Bt rice cultivation on soil stability

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Abstract

Insecticidal crystal (Cry) proteins produced by genetically modified rice that enter the soil via pollen dispersal, plant residues, and root exudation may disturb soil health. In the present study, we assessed the influences of transgenic Bt rice (i.e., HH1 with Cry1Ab/Cry1Ac) cultivation on the dynamics of soil carbon and nutrients under field conditions during 2013–2016. Transgenic treatments (transgenic Bt rice vs. its parental line (i.e., MH63) of non-Bt rice) have no consistently significant effects on soil property, including available nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus, while apparent seasonal changes were observed. Besides, the variations of soil nutrients in the paddy field of transgenic Bt rice did not exceed their resistance capacities, except total organic carbon (TOC; RS (resistance) = 1.51) and total potassium (TK; RS = 2.62) in 2013 and TK (RS = 1.94) in 2014. However, the TOC and soil nutrient of TK in the paddy field of transgenic Bt rice have recovered to the pre-perturbation status after harvest (RL (resilience) = 1.01, F = 0.01, P = 0.91; RL = 0.98, F = 0.34, P = 0.58; RL = 0.99, F = 1.26, P = 0.29). Moreover, the paddy yield of transgenic Bt rice was consistently higher than that of its parental line of non-Bt rice. These results suggested that the cultivation of transgenic Bt rice has no adverse impact on soil stability in terms of soil carbon and nutrients and paddy yield.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Special Program for New Transgenic Variety Breeding of the Ministry of Science and Technology, China (2016ZX08012005; 2012ZX08011002), the National Nature Science Foundations of China (NSFC) (31871963; 31272051), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KYZ201818), and the Qing-Lan Project of Jiangsu Province of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, People’s Republic of China

    Ying-ying Song, Jia-wen Liu, Li-kun Li & Fa-jun Chen

  2. Soil Ecology Lab, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, People’s Republic of China

    Man-qiang Liu & Xiao-yun Chen

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  1. Ying-ying Song
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  2. Jia-wen Liu
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  3. Li-kun Li
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  4. Man-qiang Liu
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  5. Xiao-yun Chen
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  6. Fa-jun Chen
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Correspondence to Fa-jun Chen.

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Responsible editor: Kitae Baek

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Song, Yy., Liu, Jw., Li, Lk. et al. Evaluating the effects of transgenic Bt rice cultivation on soil stability. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 17412–17419 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08373-4

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