GMO Research
Abstract: Soil properties, microbial communities, and enzyme activities were studied in soil planted with transgenic or nontransgenic papaya under field conditions. The transgenic papaya contained a replicase (RP) mutant gene of the papaya ringspot virus (PRSV), which conferred resistance to the virus, the neomycin phosphotransferase II (NPT II) marker gene, which conferred Km resistance, and …
Abstract: Today, genetically modified oilseeds are commercially available. Consumer protection as well as product safety demand analytical methods for the identification of products which have been genetically manipulated. By means of a technique which incorporates polymerase chain reactions, deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) fragments have been identified in oil samples from Brassicca napus. DNA fragments were …
Abstract: One of the lay public’s concerns about genetically modified (GM) organisms (GMO) and related emerging technologies is that not all the important risks are evaluated or even identified yet–and that ignorance of the unanticipated risks could lead to severe environmental or public health consequences. To some degree, even the scientists who participated in the …
Abstract: Today, Brazil is the second major soybean (Glycine max (L.) producer of the world; however, few studies on the effects of transgenesis in the soil microbiota are completed. This study aims at assessing the residual effect of a transgenic soybean with tolerance to the imidazolinone herbicide group on the soil microbiota. The parameters examined …
Abstract: To obtain a reference status prior to cultivation of genetically modified oilseed rape (OSR, Brassica napus L.) in Switzerland, the occurrence of feral OSR was monitored along transportation routes and at processing sites. The focus was set on the detection of (transgenic) OSR along railway lines from the Swiss borders with Italy and France …
Abstract: The persistence and movement of transgenic DNA in agricultural and natural systems is largely unknown. This movement poses a threat of horizontal gene transfer and possible proliferation of genetically modified DNA into the general environment. To assess the persistence of transgenic DNA in a field of Roundup Ready corn, we quantified the presence of …
Abstract: The movement of transgenes from crops to weeds and the resulting consequences are concerns of modern agriculture. The possible generation of “superweeds” from the escape of fitness-enhancing transgenes into wild populations is a risk that is often discussed, but rarely studied. Oilseed rape, Brassica napus (L.), is a crop with sexually compatible weedy relatives, …
Abstract: The apparent herbicidal action of glyphosate can be separated from its growth-inhibitory action by the use of vermiculite or sterilized soil as a growth medium. The results suggest that glyphosate-linked death of bean plants in unsterilized soil was actually due to their parasitization by fungal root-rot pathogens in the growth medium. This effect occurred …
Abstract: The critical review of experimental conclusions stating environmental safety of transgenic plants reveals that the methods and test materials employed in some studies were inadequate to the goals pursued. A large-scale application of transgenic Bt-plants may result in long-lasting negative impact on the environment. First, the cultivation of these plants leads to accumulation of …
Abstract: As is evident from the review of publications, on the basis of which a conclusion about the ecological safety of transgenic plants was drawn, the methods and test objects used were not adequate to meet the aims set. The widespread use of transgenic Bt-plants can have a negative effect on the environment. First, these …
Text: As appreciated by Darwin (1881), earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) play crucial roles in the formation and maintenance of fertile soils. Thus, they may be considered ‘keystone’ species as targets of the anthropogenic contamination of terrestrial ecosystems (Greig-Smith et al. 1992). Also, earthworms increasingly are being considered as sentinels, or biomarkers, of soil health and integrity …
Abstract: Field trials were established at three European sites (Denmark, Eastern France, South-West France) of genetically modified maize (Zea mays L.) expressing the CryIAb Bacillus thuringiensis toxin (Bt), the near-isogenic non-Bt cultivar, another conventional maize cultivar and grass. Soil from Denmark was sampled at sowing (May) and harvest (October) over two years (2002, 2003); from …
Abstract: Genetically modified herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape or canola (Brassica napus L.) is at the forefront of being introduced into European agriculture. Concerns have been raised about how genetically modified oilseed rape cultivation and the modified cropping practices might impair the agro-environment. The present review compiles and categorises evidenced and potential agro-environmental effects of cultivating genetically …
Abstract: Residues of the herbicide glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglicine) and its main metabolite, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), were determined in a forest soil in north-west Spain, previously treated with 5 and 8 l ha(-1) of glyphosate. Both products were monitored in the solid and liquid soil phases for an 8-week period after the treatment. Soil samples were extracted …
Abstract: Genetically modified (GM) plants represent a potential benefit for environmentally friendly agriculture and human health. Though, poor knowledge is available on potential hazards posed by unintended modifications occurring during genetic manipulation. The increasing amount of reports on ecological risks and benefits of GM plants stresses the need for experimental works aimed at evaluating the …
Abstract: Herbicide use is increasing worldwide both in agriculture and private gardens. However, our knowledge of potential side-effects on non-target soil organisms, even on such eminent ones as earthworms, is still very scarce. In a greenhouse experiment, we assessed the impact of the most widely used glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup on two earthworm species with different …
Abstract: The bioavailability of glyphosate from plant residues may be high in the soil matrix. In order to determine the impact of litter contaminated with glyphosate (GLY) on the growth and cocoon production of the earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus as well as on acid and basic phosphatase activities and soil pH, a commercial glyphosate-based herbicide was …
Abstract: In central Veracruz, Mexico, many coffee plantations are managed using agrochemicals for weed control, with glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) the most commonly used. To date, however, no studies in this region have characterized the soil biological and physicochemical properties in coffee plantations under such glyphosate application. In this study, earthworms were used as bioindicator organisms …
Text: On July 1, the Swiss government’s tolerance standard for genetic purity of food comes into effect. Switzerland is the first country in Europe to set a limit for genetic contamination, but current controversy over genetically contaminated corn seeds highlights the urgent EU-wide need for such a standard for crops. Citation: Fürst, I., 1999. Swiss …
Citation: Freese, B., 2007. Can Herbicide-Tolerant Soybeans Save Topsoil? Science, 12 October.
Abstract: Bt plants are plants that have been genetically modified to express the insecticidal proteins (e.g. Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, Cry3A) from subspecies of the bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), to kill lepidopteran pests that feed on corn, rice, tobacco, canola, and cotton and coleopteran pests that feed on potato. The biomass of these transgenic Bt plants (Bt+) …
Abstract: Feral oilseed rape populations on roadsides and along other semi-natural habitats contribute to the uncertainty regarding the potential risk of transgene escape from genetically modified (GM) oilseed rape to wild or weedy populations. Knowledge about the underlying mechanism of establishment, persistence, and the evolutionary potential of feral populations is a prerequisite for a successful …
Abstract: The persistence and movement of transgenic DNA in agricultural and natural systems is largely unknown. This movement poses a threat of horizontal gene transfer and possible proliferation of genetically modified DNA into the general environment. To assess the persistence of transgenic DNA in a field of Roundup Ready® corn, we quantified the presence of …
