High-methionine soybean has no adverse effect on functional diversity of rhizosphere microorganisms

Abstract

A transgenic high-methionine soybean ZD91 and its non-transgenic parental soybean ZD were investigated to evaluate the potential negative impact of transgene on the microbial community in soil. The Biolog-ECO plate method was used to evaluate the functional diversity and activity of rhizosphere microbial communities at four growth stages of the soybean each year from 2012 to 2013. Results indicated that there was no difference between ZD and ZD91 in the functional diversity of microbial communities in rhizosphere soil. Besides, plant growth stage had stronger effect than cultivar. It was concluded that transgenic soybean ZD91 did not alter the functional diversity of microbial communities in rhizosphere soil.