The cultivation of Bt corn and its impacts on soil microbiota

Abstract

The participation of transgenic Bt corn in the Brazilian production system is considerable compared to traditional cultures. However, little is known about the effect of this croop in microbial properties of soil. The aim of this work was to evaluate, the effect of Bt corn on the microbiota in different types of soils. For this, an experiment was conducted in a greenhouse in a completely randomized factorial design (3x2) using of three types of A horizon (Brown Oxisol, Yellow Argisol, and Red Yellow Argisol) and two types of corn Bt transgenic and non-transgenic, with 6 replicates per treatment. They were analyzed dry weight of shoot and root dry matter, total density of bacteria, fungi, cellulolytic, amonifiers, P solubilizing, microbial biomass carbon, microbial activity, quotient metabolic, total extraradical mycelium length, percentage and intensity of mycorrhizal colonization and total number of spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). The results showed low effect of Bt transgenic corn, except for density of bacteria and total extraradical mycelium length of the AMF, with decrease and increase respectively, and significant effects of different soil types on soil microbiota and its processes.