This paper is relevant to the impact areas in the following areas:
| Crops | Cotton |
| Traits | Insect Res. (BT), Insect Resistance |
| Countries | China |
| Regions | Asia |
| Tags | environmenmtal, microorganism, non-targets, risk assessment, soil |
Abstract Transgenic insect-resistant cotton expressing the Cry1Ac and/or CpTI protein has been released into the environment for commercial cultivation for over a decade in China. In this consecutive 3-year field study (2007–2009), we characterized the microbial populations in two different transgenic cotton fields and one non-transgenic cotton field to assess the environmental impact of long-term cultivation of transgenic insect-resistant plants in credible field conditions. We obtained samples at four different
growth stages of cotton (seedling, budding, boll forming and boll opening). The results showed significant seasonal variation in the number of bacteria, fungi, azotobacter, denitrifying bacteria and
ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and in diversity indices of microorganisms, but no significant difference in the number of each microbial population or diversity indices attributable to long-term cultivation of transgenic cotton.
No evidence of persistent effects of continuously planted transgenic insect-resistant cotton on soil microorganisms (held on an external server, and so may require additional authentication details)
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