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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2009, p. 3859-3865, Vol. 75, No. 12
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.00414-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Rhizosphere Communities of Genetically Modified Zeaxanthin-Accumulating Potato Plants and Their Parent Cultivar Differ Less than Those of Different Potato Cultivars
,
Nicole Weinert,1
Remo Meincke,2
Christine Gottwald,1
Holger Heuer,1
Newton C. M. Gomes,4
Michael Schloter,3
Gabriele Berg,2 and
Kornelia Smalla1*
Julius Kühn-Institut—Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants (JKI), Institute for Epidemiology and Pathogen Diagnostics, Messeweg 11-12, 38104 Braunschweig, Germany,1 Graz University of Technology, Environmental Biotechnology, Petersgasse 12, A-8010 Graz, Austria,2 Helmholtz Zentrum München, Department for Terrestrial Ecogenetics, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85758 Oberschleissheim, Germany,3 CESAM—Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal4
Received 19 February 2009/ Accepted 10 April 2009
The effects of genetically modified (GM), zeaxanthin-accumulating potato plants on microbial communities in the rhizosphere were compared to the effects of different potato cultivars. Two GM lines and their parental cultivar, as well as four other potato cultivars, were grown in randomized field plots at two sites and in different years. Rhizosphere samples were taken at three developmental stages during plant growth and analyzed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprints of Bacteria, Actinobacteria, Alpha- and Betaproteobacteria, Bacillus, Streptomycetaceae, Pseudomonas, gacA, Fungi, and Ascomycetes. In the bacterial DGGE gels analyzed, significant differences between the parental cultivar and the two GM lines were detected mainly for Actinobacteria but also for Betaproteobacteria and Streptomycetaceae, yet these differences occurred only at one site and in one year. Significant differences occurred more frequently for Fungi, especially Ascomycetes, than for bacteria. When all seven plant genotypes were compared, DGGE analysis revealed that different cultivars had a greater effect on both bacterial and fungal communities than genetic modification. The effects of genetic modification were detected mostly at the senescence developmental stage of the plants. The site was the overriding factor affecting microbial community structure compared to the plant genotype. In general, the fingerprints of the two GM lines were more similar to that of the parental cultivar, and the differences observed did not exceed natural cultivar-dependent variability.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Julius Kühn-Institut—Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants (JKI), Institute for Epidemiology and Pathogen Diagnostics, Messeweg 11-12, 38104 Braunschweig, Germany. Phone: 49-531-2993814. Fax: 49-531-2993006. E-mail: kornelia.smalla{at}jki.bund.de
Published ahead of print on 17 April 2009.
Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2009, p. 3859-3865, Vol. 75, No. 12
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.00414-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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