Quantification in soil of Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstakiδ‐endotoxin from transgenic plants

Abstract

Abstract Transgenic plants that produce pesticidal proteins have the potential to release these products into the environment when the plants are incorporated into soil. This could result in novel exposure of soil organisms to these pesticidal proteins. There is a lack of knowledge about the fate and persistence of transgenic pesticidal products in the soil. A model system of transgenic cotton, which produces Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki δ‐endotoxin (Bt toxin), was used to address this issue. Methods were developed to quantify Btk toxin in soil and soil/plant litter by extraction of the Btk toxin with an aqueous buffer and quantification by ELISA. The highest recovery of Btk toxin from soil was obtained with a high salt, high pH buffer. In addition, for certain soil types, addition of a non‐ionic detergent, Tween‐20, was needed for optimal recovery. Recovery of Btk toxin from soil ranged from 60% for a low clay content, low organic matter soil to 27% for a high clay content, high organic matter soil. The limit of detection of this method is 0.5 ng of extractable toxin per g dry weight soil. The method was shown to be useful in tracking over time the persistence of both purified and transgenic Btk toxin in laboratory experiments.