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A FIELD STUDY WITH GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ALFALFA INOCULATED WITH RECOMBINANT SINORHIZOBIUM MELILOTI: EFFECTS ON THE SOIL ECOSYSTEM
Citation:
Donegan, K. K., R J. Seidler, J. D. Doyle, L A. Porteous, G. Diovanni, AND et al. A FIELD STUDY WITH GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ALFALFA INOCULATED WITH RECOMBINANT SINORHIZOBIUM MELILOTI: EFFECTS ON THE SOIL ECOSYSTEM. Journal of Applied Ecology. British Ecological Society, LONDON, Uk, 36:920-936, (1999).
Description:
The agricultural use of genetically engineered plants and microorganisms has become increasingly common. Because genetically engineered plants and microorganisms can produce compounds foreign to their environment, there is concern that they may become established outside of their natural habitat. Concerns about environmental release and potential ecological effects increased include invasiveness, gene flow to indigenous organisms, development of resistance in target pests, and direct or non-direct effects on non-target organisms and ecosystems. WED scientists conducted the first field experiment performed in the United States that used both genetically engineered plants and microorganisms to address potential effects on soil organisms and processes. Soil and plant samples were collected over 2 growing seasons from an agricultural field planted with unengineered alfalfa plants and with alfalfa genetically engineered to produce alpha-amylase or lignin peroxidase and inoculated with bacterium Rhizobium meliloti genetically engineered for enhanced nitrogen fixation. The lignin peroxidase
alfalfa plants were found to have significantly lower biomass, and higher nitrogen and phosphorous content than the unengineered and alpha-amylase alfalfa. Differences in levels and communities of indigenous soil bacteria, lower activity of some soil enzymes, and lower soil pH levels were also found to be associated with the lignin peroxidase alfalfa plants. The study provides evidence that the genetically engineered organisms may cause changes in some components of the soil ecosystem.