Persistence of Bt Toxins Related to Soil Organic Matter Content
June 5, 2008| |
A recent survey in China demonstrated the agricultural benefits of planting pest-resistant transgenic plants, including reduction of pesticide use and human poisonings and increase of net incomes for farmers. But concerns on the possible ecological effects of GM crops, such as the persistence of Bt toxins in soil, remain.
Scientists from Zhejiang University in China and University of California Riverside evaluated the absorption and desorption of the Cry1Ab toxin from Bt rice on different soil matrices (bentone, kaolin, and humic acids) and well-characterized soils under laboratory conditions. The team found out that adsorption of the Cry1Ab protein is positively related to the soil organic matter content. Results of the study are expected to improve the understanding of the environmental behavior of Bt toxins, especially in China where farmers usually return Bt rice straw to the field as a soil amendment after harvest.
The abstract of the paper published by the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry is available at http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/asap.cgi/jafcau/asap/html/jf800162s.html
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