Bt protein exudated from transgenic maize does not accumulate in the soil

EZEQUIEL MARGARIT; MARTÍN I. REGGIARDO; RUBEN H. VALLEJOS; HUGO R. PERMINGEAT

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Baires Biotec 2005 Congreso Internacional Grupo Biotecnología - VI Simposio Nacional de Biotecnología - REDBIO Argentina 2005 - Encuentro Trinacional REDBIO Argentina; 2005

REDBIO Argentina - Grupo BIotecnología

The field area covered with transgenic crops is increasing year by year worldwide. Eighty one million Has. were cultured with transgenic soybean, maize, cotton and canola in 2004. Environmental impact and health risks are the two most important topics for public perception of GMOs. The exudation of BT protein from transgenic maize has already been described (saxena et al, 1999), and the rate of protein degradation in soils has also been determined (Herman et al, 2001; Head et al, 2002). We studied the presence and origin of BT protein in soil samples taken from parcels cultivated with transgenic and non-transgenic maize, and quantified the rhizosecreted BT protein using hydroponic cultures.