Abstract
To have a preliminary insight into biosafety of genetically transformed hybrid triploid poplars (Populus tomentosa × P. bolleana) × P. tomentosa with the cowpea trypsin inhibitor (CpTI) gene, two layers of rhizospheric soil (from 0 to 20 cm deep and from 20 to 40 cm deep, respectively) were collected for microorganism culture, counting assay and PCR analysis to assess the potential impact of transgenic poplars on non-target microorganism population and transgene dispersal. When the same soil layer of suspension stock solution was diluted at both 1:1 000 and 1:10 000 rates, there were no significant differences in bacterium colony numbers between the inoculation plates of both transgenic and non-transgenic poplars. The uniform results were revealed for both soil layer suspension solutions of identical poplars at both dilution rates except for non-transgenic poplars at 1:10000 dilution rates from the same type of soil. No significant variation in morphology of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria was observed under the microscope. The potential transgene dispersal from root exudates or fallen leaves to non-target microbes was repudiated by PCR analysis, in which no CpTI gene specific DNA band was amplified for 15 sites of transgenic rhizospheric soil samples. It can be concluded that transgenic poplar with the CpTI gene has no severe impact on rhizospheric microorganisms and is tentatively safe to surrounding soil micro-ecosystem.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baumgarte S, Tebbe C C. 2005. Field studies on the environmental fate of the CrylAb Bt-toxin produced by transgenic maize (MON810) and its effect on bacterial communities in the maize rhizosphere. Mol Ecol. 14(8): 2 539–2 550
Baute T S, Sears M K, Schaafsma A W. 2002. Use of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner corn hybrids to determine the direct economic impact of the European corn borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) on field corn in eastern Canada. J Econ Entomol. 95(1): 57–64
Bourguet D, Chaufaux J, Micoud A, Delos M, Naibo B. 2002. Ostrinia nubilalis parasitism and the field abundance of non-target insects in transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis corn (Zea mays). Environ Biosafety Res. 1(1): 49–60
Bruinsma M, Kowalchuk G A, van Veen J A. 2003. Effects of genetically modified plants on microbial communities and processes in soil. Biol Fert Soils. 37(6): 329–337
Chen W X. 1990. Soil and Environment Biology (in Chinese). Beijing: Beijing Agricultural Press
Cotter J, Mayer S, Watch G. 2004. GE Rice in China: Health and Environmental Risks. Greenpeace. 1–24
Cowgill S E, Bardgett R D, Daan K T, Kiezebrink D T, Atkinson H J. 2002. The effect of transgenic nematode resistance on non-target organisms in the potato rhizosphere. J Appl Ecol. 39(6): 915–924
de Vries W, Herzfeld T, Wackernagel W. 2004. Transfer of plastid DNA from tobacco to the soil bacterium Acinetobacter sp. by natural transformation. Mol Microbiol. 53(1): 323–331
Donegan K K, Palm C J, Fieland V J, Porteous L A, Ganio L M, Schaller D L, Bucao L Q, Seidler R J. 1995. Changes in levels, species and DNA fingerprints of soil microorganisms associated with cotton expressing the Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki endotoxin. Appl Soil Eco. 2(2): 111–124
Donegan K K, Schaller D L, Stone J K, Ganio L M, Reed G, Hamm P B, Seidler R J. 1996. Microbial populations, fungal species diversity and plant pathogen levels in field plots of potato plants expressing the Bacillus thuringiensis tenebrionis endotoxin. Transgenic Research. 5: 25–35
Donegan K K, Seidler R J, Doyle J D, Porteous L A, Digiovanni G, Widmer F, Watrud L S. 1999. A field study with genetically engineered alfalfa inoculcted with recombinant Sinorhizobium meliloti: effects on the soil ecosystem. J Appl Eco. 36(6): 920–931
Glandorf D C M, Bakker P A H M, Van Loon L C. 1997. Influence of the production of antibacterial and antifungal proteins by transgenic plants on the saprophytic soil microflora. Acta Botanica Neerlandica. 46(1): 85–104
Griffiths B S, Geoghegan I E, Robertson W M. 2000. Testing genetically engineered potato, producing the lectins GNA and Con A, on non-target soil organisms and processes. J Appl Ecol. 37(1): 159–170
Gustafson D I, Horak M J, Rempel C B, Metz S G, Gigax D R, Hucl P. 2005. An empirical model for pollen-mediated gene flow in wheat. Crop Sci. 45: 1 286–1 294
Hails R S. 2000. Genetically modified plants—the debate continues. Trees. 15: 14–18
Hao G X, Zhu Z, Zhu Z T. 1999. Transformation of Populus tomentosa with insecticidal cowpea proteinase inhibitor gene. Acta Botanica Sinica. 41(12): 1 276–1 282
Hamill J D, Rounsley S, Spencer A. 1991. The use of the polymerase chain reaction in plant transformation studies. Plant Cell Reports. 217(1): 221–224
Hilbeck A, Baumgartner M, Fried P M, Bigler F. 1998. Effects of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis corn fed prey on the mortality and development time of immature Chrysoperia carnea (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae). Environ Entomol. 17: 480–487
Hodgson J. 1999. Monarch Bt-corn paper questioned. Nature Biotechnol. 17: 627
Hoffmann T, Golz C, Schieder O. 1994. Foreign DNA sequences are received by a wild-type strain of Aspergillus niger after co-culture with transgenic higher plants. Curr Genet. 27(1): 70–76
James R R. 1997. Utilizing a social ethic toward the environment in assessing genetically engineered insect-resistance in trees. Agriculture Human Values. 14: 237–249
Kling R A. 1996. Could transgenic super crops one day breed superweeds? Science. 274: 180–181
Kohli A, Twyman R M, Abranches R, Weget E, Stoger E, Christou P. 2003. Transgene integration, organisation and interaction in plants. Plant Mol Biol. 52: 247–258
Lin Y Z, Zhang Q, Lin S Z, Lin Y Z. 2002. Identification of expression of CpTI gene in transgenic poplars at protein level. Forestry Studies in China. 4(2): 33–37
Liu S L, Jie X L, Li Y T, An Z Z, Hu Z B. 2003a. Effects of sources of P on crop rhizosphere. Soils. 35(4): 25–29
Liu Z L, Zhai H, Liu D Q. 2003b. Microbial interaction in the rhizosphere and its involvement in biological control of plant diseases. J Agriculture University Hebei. 26(Supp.): 183–187
Losey, J E, Rayor L S, Carter M E. 1999. Transgenic pollen harms monarch larvae. Nature. 399: 214–218
Luo R Y. 1990. Agrology (in Chinese). Beijing: China Forestry Publishing House
Mallet J, Porter P. 1992. Preventing insect adaptation to insect resistant crops: Are seed mixtures or refugee the best strategy? Proc R Soc London Ser B. 250: 165–169
Matus-Cádiz M A, Hucl P, Horak M J, Blomguist L K. 2004. Gene flow in wheat at the field scale. Crop Sci. 44: 718–727
Oger P, Petit A, Dessaux. 1997. Genetically engineered plants producing opines alter their biological environment. Nature Biotech. 15: 369–372
Peferoen M. 1997. Progress and prospects for field use of Bt genes in crops. Trends Biotech. 15: 173–177
Pilcher C D, Obrycki J J, Rice M E, Lewis L C. 1997. Preimaginal development, survival and field abundance of insect predators on transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis corn. Environ Entomol. 26: 446–454
Qian Y Q, Ma K P. 1995. On biotechnology and biosafety. J Natural Resources. 10(4): 323–331
Rogers S O, Bendich A J. 1985. Extraction of DNA from milligram amounts of fresh, herbarium, and mummified plant tissues. Plant Mol Biol. 5: 1 041–1 045
Saxena D, Florest S, Stotzky G. 1999. Insecticidal toxin in root exudates from Bt corn. Nature. 399: 402–480
Saxena D, Stotzky G. 2000. Insecticidal toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis released from roots of transgenic Bt corn in vitro and in situ. FEMS Microbio Ecology. 33: 35–39
Stanley-Horn D E, Dively G P, Hellmich R L. 2001. Assessing the impact of Cry1Ab-expressing corn pollen on monarch butterfly larvae in field studies. Proc NatI Acad Sci USA. 98: 11 931–11 936
Tabashnik B E. 1994. Evolution of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis. Annu Rev Entomol. 39: 47–79
Turrini A, Sbrana C, Pitto L, Castiglione M R, Giorgetti L, Briganti R, Bracci T, Evangelista M, Nuti M P, Giovannetti M. 2004. The antifungal Dm-AMP1 protein from Dahlia merckii expressed in Solanum melongena is released in root exudates and differentially affects pathogenic fungi and mycorrhizal symbiosis. New Phytologist. 163(2): 393–405
Wang Z H, Ye Q F, Shu Q Y, Cui H R, Xia Y W, Zhou M Y. 2002. The transfer of foreign genes and its expression products in genetically modified crops (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Ecologica Sinica. 22(9): 1 521–1 526
Widmer F, Seidler R J, Donegan K K, Reed G L. 1997. Quantification of transgenic plant marker gene persistence in the field. Mol Ecol. 6(1): 1–11
Wraight C L, ZangerI A R, Carroll M, Berenbaum M R. 2000. Absence of toxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis pollen to black swallow tails under field conditions. Proc NatI Acad Sci USA. 97: 7 700–7 711
Xie Y Q, Li Z Z, Wang Z J, Pan L E, Fu L Y. 2003. A study on properties of rhizopshere microorganisms of soybean genotypes with different phosphorus efficiency (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Agr Uni Jiangxiensis. 25(4): 509–510
Yu L, Berry R E, Croft B A. 1997. Effects of Bacillus thuringiensis toxins in transgenic cotton and potato on Folsomia candida (Collembola: Isotomidae) and Oppia nitens (Acari: Orbatidae). J Econ Entomol. 90: 113–118
Zangerl A R, McKenna D, Wraight C L. 2001. Effects of exposure to event 176 Bacillus thuringiensis corn pollen on monarch and black swallow tail caterpillars under field conditions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 98: 11 908–11 912
Zhang Q, Lin S Z, Zhang Z Y, Lin Y Z. 2002. Test of insect-resistance of transgenic poplar with CpTI gene. Forestry Studies in China. 4(2): 27–32
Zhang Q, Lin S Z, Lin Y Z, Zhang Z Y. 2004. Identification of CpTI gene integration for 2-year-old transgenic poplars at DNA level. Forestry Studies in China. 6(3): 15–19
Zhang Z Y, Yu X S, Zhu Z T. 2000. Sexual reproduction of hybrid triploids in Populus tomentosa (in Chinese with English abstract). J Beijing For Uni. 22 (6): 1–4
Zhu L X, Zang J E, Liu W G. 2003. Review of studies on interactions between root exudates rhizospheric microorganisms. Ecol Environ. 12(1): 102–105
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
[Supported by the National Project in Transgenic Plant and Application (Grant No. J2002-2003)]
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, Q., Zhang, Zy., Lin, Sz. et al. Assessment of rhizospheric microorganisms of transgenic Populus tomentosa with cowpea trypsin inhibitor (CpTI) gene. For. Stud. China 7, 28–34 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11632-005-0027-7
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11632-005-0027-7