Abstract
Transgenic Bt crops produce insecticidal Cry proteins that are released to soil in plant residues, root exudates, and pollen and that may affect soil microorganisms. As a continuation of studies in the laboratory and a plant-growth room, a field study was conducted at the Rosemount Experiment Station of the University of Minnesota. Three Bt corn varieties that express the Cry1Ab protein, which is toxic to the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner), and one Bt corn variety that expresses the Cry3Bb1 protein, which is toxic to the corn rootworm complex (Diabrotica spp.), and their near-isogenic non-Bt varieties were evaluated for their effects on microbial diversity by classical dilution plating and molecular (polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) techniques and for the activities of some enzymes (arylsulfatases, acid and alkaline phosphatases, dehydrogenases, and proteases) involved in the degradation of plant biomass. After 4 consecutive years of corn cultivation (2003-2006), there were, in general, no consistent statistically significant differences in the numbers of different groups of microorganisms, the activities of the enzymes, and the pH between soils planted with Bt and non-Bt corn. Numbers and types of microorganisms and enzyme activities differed with season and with the varieties of corn, but these differences were not related to the presence of the Cry proteins in soil. The Cry1Ab protein of Bt corn (events Bt11 and MON810) was detected in most soils during the 4 yr, whereas the Cry3Bb1 protein was not detected in soils of Bt corn (event MON863) expressing the cry3Bb1 gene.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
Over four years, Bt and non-Bt corn soils showed no consistent significant differences in numbers of microorganism groups.
- Taxon
- corn
Zea mays subsp. mayst0 - Treatment
- Bte0
- Outcome
- numbers of different groups of microorganismse0
- Direction
- no consistent statistically significant differencese0
- Comparator
- non-Bte0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Transgenic Corn”
e0“After 4 consecutive years of corn cultivation (2003-2006), there were, in general, no consistent statistically significant differences in the numbers of different groups of microorganisms, the activities of the enzymes, and the pH between soils planted with Bt and non-Bt corn”
Claim · model-written summary
Over four years, Bt and non-Bt corn soils showed no consistent significant differences in soil enzyme activities.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayst0
- Treatment
- Bte0
- Outcome
- the activities of the enzymese0
- Direction
- no consistent statistically significant differencese0
- Comparator
- non-Bte0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Transgenic Corn”
e0“After 4 consecutive years of corn cultivation (2003-2006), there were, in general, no consistent statistically significant differences in the numbers of different groups of microorganisms, the activities of the enzymes, and the pH between soils planted with Bt and non-Bt corn”
Claim · model-written summary
Over four years, Bt and non-Bt corn soils showed no consistent significant differences in pH.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayst0
- Treatment
- Bte0
- Outcome
- pHe0
- Direction
- no consistent statistically significant differencese0
- Comparator
- non-Bte0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Transgenic Corn”
e0“After 4 consecutive years of corn cultivation (2003-2006), there were, in general, no consistent statistically significant differences in the numbers of different groups of microorganisms, the activities of the enzymes, and the pH between soils planted with Bt and non-Bt corn”
Claim · model-written summary
Microbial numbers and types and enzyme activities differed with season and corn variety, not with Cry protein presence.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayst0
- Outcome
- Numbers and types of microorganisms and enzyme activitiese1
- Direction
- differede1
- Qualifier
- with season and with the varieties of corne1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Transgenic Corn”
e1“Numbers and types of microorganisms and enzyme activities differed with season and with the varieties of corn, but these differences were not related to the presence of the Cry proteins in soil”
Claim · model-written summary
The Cry1Ab protein of Bt corn was detected in most soils during the 4 years.
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e2“The Cry1Ab protein of Bt corn (events Bt11 and MON810) was detected in most soils during the 4 yr”
Claim · model-written summary
The Cry3Bb1 protein was not detected in soils of Bt corn event MON863.
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e3“whereas the Cry3Bb1 protein was not detected in soils of Bt corn (event MON863) expressing the cry3Bb1 gene”
The same questions in other papers
transgenic · soil: chemistry · Zea mays (maize)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- no effect
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.