Abstract
Introduction of GM crops into agricultural production systems increased public concern and renewed interest in research on the possible environmental consequences of growing GM crops including human health and ecosystem functioning. Globally, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton occupies 15 million ha which comprised 43 % of the total cotton area of 35 million ha. Bt cotton was developed by incorporating the cry gene of the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. This gene expresses the protein endotoxin (Cry) that has insecticidal activity against the common cotton lepidopteran insect pests. While the benefits of Bt cotton are well known, there is a wide spread concern about growing transgenic cotton. This stems from the fact that the Bt toxin produced in leaves, stems and roots of Bt cotton is introduced in soil which might affect general soil health. Several workers have studied the effects of transgene products and transgenic cotton on the soil biological properties. Quite a few studies assessed the risk of growing Bt cotton on flora and fauna in diverse agro-ecosystems. This chapter attempts to review the work done so far related to growing transgenic Bt cotton on the soil microbial diversity and other related soil functions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Balachandar D, Raja P, Nirmala K, Rithyl TR, Sundaram SP (2008) Impact of transgenic Bt-cotton on the diversity of pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 24:2087–2095
Baumgarte S, Tebbe CC (2005) Field studies on the environmental fate of the Cry1Ab Bt-toxin produced by transgenic maize (MON810) and its effect on bacterial communities in the maize rhizosphere. Mol Ecol 14:2539–2551
Blackwood CB, Buyer JS (2004) Soil microbial communities associated with Bt and non-Bt corn in three soils. J Environ Qual 33:832–836
Brady NC, Weil RR (1999) The nature and properties of soils. Prentice Hall Inc., Upper Saddle River
Brookes G, Barfoot P (2005) GM crops: the global economic and environmental impact—the first nine years 1996–2004. Agric Bio Forum 8:187–196
Brusetti L, Francia P, Bertolini C, Pagliuca A, Borin S, Sorlini C, Abruzzese A, Sacchi G, Viti C, Giovannetti L, Giuntini E, Bazzicalupo M, Daffonchio D (2004) Bacterial communities associated with the rhizosphere of transgenic Bt 176 maize (Zea mays) and its non-transgenic counterpart. Plant Soil 266:11–21
Castaldini M, Turrini A, Sbrana C, Benedetti A, Marchionni M, Mocali S, Fabiani A, Landi S, Santomassimo F, Pietrangeli B, Nuti MP, Miclaus N, Giovannetti M (2005) Impact of Bt corn on rhizospheric and soil eubacterial communities and on beneficial mycorrhizal symbiosis in experimental microcosms. Appl Environ Microbiol 71:6719–6729
Crecchio C, Stotzky G (1998) Insecticidal activity and biodegradation of the toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki bound to humic acids from soil. Soil Biol Biochem 30:463–470
Dale PJ, Clarke B, Fontes EMG (2002) Potential for the environmental impact of transgenic crops. Nat Biotechnol 20:567–580
Devare MH, Jones CM, Thies JE (2004) Effect of Cry3Bb transgenic corn and tefluthrin on the soil microbial community: biomass, activity, and diversity. J Environ Qual 33:837–843
Donegan KK, Palm CJ, Fieland VJ, Porteous LA, Ganio LM, Schaller DL, Bucao LQ, Seidler RJ (1995) Changes in levels, species and DNA fingerprints of soil microorganisms associated with cotton expressing the Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki endotoxin. Appl Soil Ecol 2:111–124
Dunfield KE, Germida JJ (2004) Impact of genetically modified crops on soil-and plant-associated microbial communities. J Environ Qual 33:806–815
Griffiths BS, Caul S, Thompson J, Birch ANE, Scrimgeour C, Andersen MN, Cortet J, Messéan A, Sausse C, Lacroix B, Krogh PH (2005) A comparison of soil microbial community structure, protozoa and nematodes in field plots of conventional and genetically modified maize expressing the Bacillus thuringiensis is CryIAb toxin. Plant Soil 275:135–146
Gupta VVSR, Watson S (2004) Ecological impacts of GM cotton on soil biodiversity. Report to Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Gupta VVSR, Roberts GN, Neate SM, McClure SG, Crisp P, Watson SK (2002) Impact of Bt-cotton on biological processes in Australian soils. In: Akhurst RJ, Beard CE, Hughes PA (eds) Proceedings of the fourth pacific rim conference on the biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its environmental impacts. CSIRO, Australia, pp 191–194
Head G, Surber JB, Watson JA, Martin JW, Duan JJ (2002) No detection of Cry1Ac protein in soil after multiple years of transgenic Bt cotton (Bollgard) use. Environ Entomol 31:30–36
Hossain F, Pray CE, Lu Y, Huang J, Fan C, Hu R (2004) Genetically modified cotton and farmers’ health in China. Int J Occup Environ Health 10:296–303
Hu HY, Xiao XL, Zhang WZ, Sun JG, Zhang QW, Liu XZ, Yu Y (2009) Effects of repeated cultivation of transgenic Bt cotton on functional bacterial populations in rhizosphere soil. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 25:357–366
Huang J, Hu R, Rozelle S, Pray C (2005) Insect-resistant GM rice in farmer’s fields: assessing productivity and health effects in china. Science 308:688–690
ISAAA (2006) Global area of biotech crops. International service for the acquisition of agri-biotech applications. http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/35/pptslides/Brief35slides.pdf
James C (2010) Global status of commercialized biotech/GM crops: 2010. ISAAA Brief No. 43, ISAAA, Ithaca, NY
Kapur M, Bhatia R, Pandey G, Pandey J, Paul D, Jain RK (2010) A case study for assessment of microbial community dynamics in genetically modified Bt cotton crop fields. Curr Microbiol 61:118–124
Knox OGG, Constable GA, Pyke B, Gupta VVSR (2006) Environmental impact of conventional and Bt insecticidal cotton expressing one and two cry genes in Australia. Aust J Agric Res 57:501–509
Koskella J, Stotzky G (1997) Microbial utilization of free and clay-bound insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis and their retention of insecticidal activity after incubation with microbes. Appl Environ Microbiol 63:3561–3568
Koskella J, Stotzky G (2002) Larvicidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis sub spp. kurstaki, morrisoni and israelensis have no microbicidal or microbiostatic activity against selected bacteria, fungi and algae in vitro. Can J Microbiol 48:262–267
Lamarche J, Hamelin RC (2007) No evidence of an impact on the rhizosphere diazotroph community by the expression of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab toxin by Bt white spruce. Appl Environ Microbiol 73(20):6577–6583
Liu B, Zeng Q, Yan F, Xu H, Xu C (2005) Effects of transgenic plants on soil microorganisms. Plant Soil 271:1–13
Marvier M, McCreedy C, Regetz J, Kareiva P (2007) A meta-analysis of effects of Bt cotton and maize on non-target invertebrates. Science 316:1475–1477
Mina U, Anita C, Anju K (2011) Effect of Bt cotton on enzymes activity and microorganisms in rhizosphere. J Agric Sci 3:96–104
Mirkov TE (2003) The molecular basis of genetic modification and improvement of crops. In: Chrispeels MJ, Sadava DE (eds) Plants, genes, and crop biotechnology 2nd edn. Jones and Bartlett, Boston, pp 124–151
Muchaonyerwa P, Waladde S, Nyamugafata P, Mpepereki S, Ristori GG (2004) Persistence and impact on microorganisms of Bacillus thuringiensis proteins in some Zimbabwean soils. Plant Soil 266:41–46
O’Callaghan M, Travis RG, Burgess EPJ, Malone LA (2005) Effects of plants genetically modified for insect resistance on non-target organisms. Annu Rev Entomol 50:271–292
Oger P, Mansouri H, Dessaux Y (2000) Effect of crop rotation and soil cover on alteration of the soil microflora generated by the culture of transgenic plants producing opines. Mol Ecol 9:881–890
Palm CJ, Schaller DL, Donegan KK, Seidler RJ (1996) Persistence in soil of transgenic plant produced Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki δ-endotoxin. Can J Microbiol 42:1258–1262
Perlak FJ, Deaton RW, Armstrong TA, Fuchs RL, Sims SR, Greenplate JT, Fischhoff DA (1990) Insect resistant cotton plants. Biotechnology (N.Y.) 8:939–943
Ream JE, Sims SR, Leach JN (1994) Aerobic soil degradation of Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki HD-73 protein bioactivity. Monsanto Company Laboratory Project MSL 13267(11), Monsanto, St.Louis, MO
Rui YK, Yi GX, Zhao J, Wang BM, Li JH, Zhai ZX, He Z, Li QX (2005) Changes of Bt toxin in the rhizosphere of transgenic Bt cotton and its influence on soil functional bacteria. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 21:1279–1284
Sarkar B, Patra AK, Purakayastha TJ (2008) Transgenic Bt cotton affects enzyme activity and nutrient availability in a sub-tropical inceptisol. J Agron Crop Sci 194:289–296
Sarkar B, Patra AK, Purakayastha TJ, Megharaj M (2009) Assessment of biological and biochemical indicators in soil under transgenic Bt and non-Bt cotton crop in a sub-tropical environment. Environ Monit Assess 156:595–604
Saxena D, Stotzky G (2001) Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin released from root exudates and biomass of Bt corn has no apparent effect on earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, bacteria, and fungi in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1225–1230
Schubert D (2002) A different perspective on GM food. Nat Biotechnol 20:969
Sessitsch A, Gyamfi S, Tscherko D, Gerzabek MH, Kandeler E (2004) Activity of microorganisms in the rhizosphere of herbicide treated and untreated transgenic glufosinate-tolerant and wild type oilseed rape grown in containment. Plant Soil 266:105–116
Shen RF, Cai H, Gong WH (2006) Transgenic Bt cotton has no apparent effect on enzymatic activities or functional diversity of microbial communities in rhizosphere soil. Plant Soil 285:149–159
Sims SR, Ream JE (1997) Soil inactivation of the Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki Cry2A insecticidal protein within transgenic cotton tissue: Laboratory, microcosm and field studies. J Agric Food Chem 45:1502–1505
Singh RJ, Ahlawat IPS, Singh S (2013) Effects of transgenic Bt cotton on soil fertility and biology under field conditions in subtropical inceptisol. Environ Monit Assess 185:485–495
Sun CX, Chen LJ, Wu ZJ, Zhou LK, Shimizu H (2007) Soil persistence of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin from transgenic Bt cotton tissues and its effect on soil enzyme activities. Biol Fertil Soils 43:617–620
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2001) SAP report no 2000–07, sets of scientific issues being considered by the environmental protection agency regarding: Bt plant pesticides risk and benefits assessments. www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap/meetings/2000/october/octoberfinal.pdf
Valasubramanian R (2001) Transgenic cotton expressing the Bacillus thuringiensis endotoxin: effects on soil microflora and non-target soil organisms with special reference to earthworms. Report submitted to MEC and RCGM by Mahyco Life Science Research Center, Jalna, India
Velmourougane K, Sahu A (2013) Impact of transgenic cottons expressing cry1Ac on soil biological attributes. Plant Soil Environ 59:108–114
Wallimann T (2000) Bt toxin: assessing GM strategies. Science 287:41
Wu WX, Ye QF, Min H, Duan XJ, Jin WM (2004) Bt-transgenic rice straw affects the culturable microbiota and dehydrogenase and phosphatase activities in a flooded paddy soil. Soil Biol Biochem 36:289–295
Yan WD, Shi WM, Li BH, Zhang M (2007) Over expression of a foreign Bt gene in cotton affects the low-molecular-weight components in root exudates. Pedosphere 17:324–330
Yu L, Berry RE, Croft BA (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
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Velmourougane, K., Blaise, D. (2014). Transgenic Cotton and Its Impact on Microbial Diversity. In: Maheshwari, D. (eds) Bacterial Diversity in Sustainable Agriculture. Sustainable Development and Biodiversity, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05936-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05936-5_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-05935-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-05936-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)