Differential Assembly and Shifts of the Rhizosphere Bacterial Community by a Dual Transgenic Glyphosate-Tolerant Soybean Line with and without Glyphosate Application

Modern agriculture has gained significant economic benefits worldwide with the use of genetically modified (GM) technologies. While GM crops provide convenience to humans, their biosafety has attracted increasing concern. In this study, the Illumina MiSeq was used to perform a high-throughput sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable regions of 16S rRNA gene (16S rDNA) amplicons to compare the rhizosphere bacterial communities of the EPSPS/GAT dual transgenic glyphosate-tolerant soybean line Z106, its recipient variety ZH10, and Z106 with glyphosate application (Z106G) during flowering, seed filling, and maturing stages under field settings. At each of the three stages, the alpha and beta diversity of rhizosphere bacterial communities revealed no significant differences between ZH10, Z106, and Z106G. However, some bacterial taxa demonstrated a greater proportional contribution, particularly the nitrogen-fixing rhizobium Ensifer fredii, in the rhizospheric soil of Z106 at the seed filling and maturing stages, when compared to ZH10 and Z106G. The present study therefore suggests that the EPSPS/GAT dual transgenic line Z106 and exogenous glyphosate application have a minimal effect on the composition of the soybean rhizosphere bacterial community but have no impact on the structure of the rhizosphere microbial community during a single planting season.

Detection of genetically modified organisms in soy feed and food in Romania

The paper describes the diagnostic methods used in Romania to detect the genetically modified organisms in soy feed and food and the results recorded between 2013 and 2019. The retrospective analyses of surveillance and diagnostic methods (qualitative and quantitative PCR techniques) developed for the genetically modified organisms detection in soy feed and food and of the transgenic Roundup Ready soybean line event 40-3-2 in Romania covered a total of 687 tests between 2013 and 2019 and revealed 32/131 GM events in 2013, 25/142 GM events in 2014, 24/117 GM events in 2015, 16/115 GM events in 2016, 6/97 GM events in 2017, 8/53 GM events in 2018, and 2/32 GM events in 2019.