Abstract
In a field release experiment, an isolate of Pseudomonas fluorescens, which was chromosomally modified with two reporter gene cassettes (lacZY and Kan(supr)-xylE), was applied to spring wheat as a seed coating and subsequently as a foliar spray. The wild-type strain was isolated from the phylloplane of sugar beet but was found to be a common colonizer of both the rizosphere and phylloplane of wheat as well. The impact on the indigenous microbial populations resulting from release of this genetically modified microorganism (GMM) was compared with the impact of the unmodified, wild-type strain and a nontreated control until 1 month after harvest of the crop. The release of the P. fluorescens GMM and the unmodified, wild-type strain resulted in significant but transient perturbations of some of the culturable components of the indigenous microbial communities that inhabited the rhizosphere and phylloplane of wheat, but no significant perturbations of the indigenous culturable microbial populations in nonrhizosphere soil were found. Fast-growing organisms that did not produce resting structures (for example, fluorescent pseudomonads and yeasts) seemed to be most sensitive to perturbation. In terms of hazard and risk to the environment, the observed microbial perturbations that resulted from this GMM release may be considered minor for several reasons. First, the recombinant P. fluorescens strain caused changes that were, in general, not significantly different from those caused by the unmodified wild-type strain; second, perturbations resulting from bacterial inoculations were mainly small; and third, the release of bacteria had no obvious effects on plant growth and plant health.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (270.7 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Austin C. A., Fisher L. M. Isolation and characterization of a human cDNA clone encoding a novel DNA topoisomerase II homologue from HeLa cells. FEBS Lett. 1990 Jun 18;266(1-2):115–117. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(90)81520-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Barry G. F. A broad-host-range shuttle system for gene insertion into the chromosomes of gram-negative bacteria. Gene. 1988 Nov 15;71(1):75–84. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(88)90079-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Böttger E. C. Rapid determination of bacterial ribosomal RNA sequences by direct sequencing of enzymatically amplified DNA. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1989 Nov;53(1-2):171–176. doi: 10.1016/0378-1097(89)90386-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Seidler R. J. Evaluation of methods for detecting ecological effects from genetically engineered microorganisms and microbial pest control agents in terrestrial systems. Biotechnol Adv. 1992;10(2):149–178. doi: 10.1016/0734-9750(92)90001-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Smit E., van Elsas J. D., van Veen J. A., de Vos W. M. Detection of Plasmid Transfer from Pseudomonas fluorescens to Indigenous Bacteria in Soil by Using Bacteriophage phiR2f for Donor Counterselection. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1991 Dec;57(12):3482–3488. doi: 10.1128/aem.57.12.3482-3488.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Williams P. A., Murray K. Metabolism of benzoate and the methylbenzoates by Pseudomonas putida (arvilla) mt-2: evidence for the existence of a TOL plasmid. J Bacteriol. 1974 Oct;120(1):416–423. doi: 10.1128/jb.120.1.416-423.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wilson K. H., Blitchington R. B., Greene R. C. Amplification of bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA with polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Sep;28(9):1942–1946. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.9.1942-1946.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]