A 5-year field study showed no apparent effect of the Bt transgenic 741 poplar on the arthropod community and soil bacterial diversity

Abstract

China is currently the only country that has commercialized genetically engineered tree species, and this has attracted worldwide attention. As a perennial tree species, transgenic poplar has a long growth cycle and needs to be tested for long-term ecological risks. The main purpose of this study was to explore the ecological safety of perennial transgenic poplars in arthropod community, physical and chemical properties of soil, gene flow, and soil microbial diversity. The study found transgenic poplars could effectively inhibit the number of pests. Moreover, transgenic poplar 741 did not affect the stability of the arthropod community. Studies on the microbial diversity of poplar showed that transgenic poplars did not affect the physical and chemical properties of the soil and the soil microbial community structure. Furthermore, the microbial community structure was obviously affected by location and season. The results showed that a 5-year-old transgenic 741 poplar did not pose an ecological risk, and did not affect the microbial community structure or functional diversity. This study provides a reference for the ecological security evaluation of transgenic poplars, and provides a theoretical basis for promoting the commercialization of transgenic poplars.

Biochemical characterization of somatic embryogenesis and genetic transformation studies in Terminalia chebula Retz.: An immensely valuable medicinal tree

“…Our lab is associated with the area of research on biotechnological interventions in T. chebula for rapid multiplication of this important medicinal tree for forestry (Shyamkumar et al, 2003;Anjaneyulu et al, 2008;Shyamkumar and Giri 2011;Anjaneyulu and Giri 2011). There has been a constant need to develop protocols for genetic transformation in tree species in general and T. chebula in particular for genetic improvement (Giri et al, 2004;Shyamkumar et al, 2007;Dangi et al, 2012;Verma et al, 2013;Zuo et al, 2018). In the present communication, we report biochemical analysis and genetic transformation studies using somatic embryogenesis culture system of T. chebula.…”

The Current Status and Development of Insect-Resistant Genetically Engineered Poplar in China

“…The dominant insect species in all poplars was Hemiptera, followed by Lepidoptera, Homoptera, Araneida, and Diptera, whereas numbers of Mantodea, Neuroptera, Odonata, and Acarina were relatively low. The main poplar pests (primarily Lepidoptera) were significantly inhibited in the transgenic poplars; however, the number of Coleoptera pests was generally low, and the inhibitory effect was not clear (Zuo et al, 2018). …”

“…Studies of the microbial diversity of 5-year-old transgenic poplar 741 showed that transgenic poplars did not affect the physical and chemical properties of the soil or the soil microbial community structure. However, the microbial community structure was obviously affected by the location and season (Zuo et al, 2018). …”

“…Species richness, dominance, evenness, diversity, and similarity were calculated and analyzed, using the Berge–Parker index, Shannon–Wiener index, evenness index, Simpson’s inverted index, and Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index. The differences between transgenic and non-transgenic poplars were also compared (Gao et al, 2003; Zhang et al, 2011; Guo et al, 2018; Zuo et al, 2018). …”

Optimization of the cry1Ah1 Sequence Enhances the Hyper-Resistance of Transgenic Poplars to Hyphantria cunea

“…deltoides (Ramachandran et al, 1993) P . euramericana (Wang et al, 1997), NL-80106 ( Populus deltoides × Populus simonii ) (Guo et al, 2004) and 741 poplar (Tian et al, 2000; Yang et al, 2003) were successfully cultivated, and there are now resources for continuously introducing new insect-resistant poplar varieties (Zuo et al, 2018).…”