Biotech Updates

Scientists Study Effects of Bt Brinjal on Rhizospheric Bacterial Community Structure

September 25, 2013

A two-year study was conducted to investigate whether Bt brinjal has an effect on the rhizospheric bacterial community structure. Scientist Amit Kishore Singh from Banaras Hindu University and colleagues screened a Bt brinjal event (VRBT-8) using an insect bioassay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

DNA amplification through quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed that the quantity of bacterial 16S rRNA gene copies were lower in soils associated with Bt brinjal. Further analysis showed that there was slight reduction in microbial biomass in Bt brinjal soils. Gene fragments also indicated that 13 different bacterial groups with the exclusive presence of β-Proteobacteria, Chloroflexus, Planctomycetes, and Fusobacteria in non-Bt, and Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes in Bt soils, respectively, which implied minor changes in the community structure. These observed effects of Bt brinjal on rhizospheric bacterial community are considered minimal compared to the effects of seasonal changes on the rhizospheric bacterial community.

Read the abstract at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00248-013-0287-z.