Bt toxin protein from GMOs leaching into waterways

[Guest guest]

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/gm-maize-has-polluted-rivers-across-the-united-states-2091300.html

GM maize 'has polluted rivers across the United States'

28 September 2010

"An insecticide used in genetically modified (GM) crops grown extensively in the United States and other parts of the world has leached into the water of the surrounding environment." [snip]

And here is the citation and abstract from the originally published study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The free full text will be available beginning April 2011.

Funny that this shows up in a UK newspaper the day after the PNAS publication, but we don't seem to hear about it in the U.S.

Char

_________

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Oct 12;107(41):17645-50. Epub 2010 Sep 27.

Occurrence of maize detritus and a transgenic insecticidal protein (Cry1Ab) within the stream network of an agricultural landscape.

Tank JL, Rosi-Marshall EJ, Royer TV, Whiles MR, Griffiths NA, Frauendorf TC, Treering DJ.

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. tank.1@...

Abstract

Widespread planting of maize throughout the agricultural Midwest may result in detritus entering adjacent stream ecosystems, and 63% of the 2009 US maize crop was genetically modified to express insecticidal Cry proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis. Six months after harvest, we conducted a synoptic survey of 217 stream sites in Indiana to determine the extent of maize detritus and presence of Cry1Ab protein in the stream network. We found that 86% of stream sites contained maize leaves, cobs, husks, and/or stalks in the active stream channel. We also detected Cry1Ab protein in stream-channel maize at 13% of sites and in the water column at 23% of sites. We found that 82% of stream sites were adjacent to maize fields, and Geographical Information Systems analyses indicated that 100% of sites containing Cry1Ab-positive detritus in the active stream channel had maize planted within 500 m during the previous crop year. Maize detritus likely enters streams throughout the Corn Belt; using US Department of Agriculture land cover data, we estimate that 91% of the 256,446 km of streams/rivers in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana are located within 500 m of a maize field. Maize detritus is common in low-gradient stream channels in northwestern Indiana, and Cry1Ab proteins persist in maize leaves and can be measured in the water column even 6 mo after harvest. Hence, maize detritus, and associated Cry1Ab proteins, are widely distributed and persistent in the headwater streams of a Corn Belt landscape.

PMID: 20876106 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] PMCID: PMC2955116 [Available on 2011/4/12]

[Guest guest]

Hi Char,

A few days ago I listen to an ABC News broadcast that claimed the bees of the world were being attacked by mites.

The researchers said they would fix the problem by changing the DNA of the mite, which would get its own body to attack itself.

Sincerely,

Ken Uzzellhttp://heal-me.com.auHealMe FoundationA New Humanity Associate

Bt toxin protein from GMOs leaching into waterways

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/gm-maize-has-polluted-rivers-across-the-united-states-2091300.html

GM maize 'has polluted rivers across the United States'

28 September 2010

"An insecticide used in genetically modified (GM) crops grown extensively in the United States and other parts of the world has leached into the water of the surrounding environment." [snip]

And here is the citation and abstract from the originally published study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The free full text will be available beginning April 2011.

Funny that this shows up in a UK newspaper the day after the PNAS publication, but we don't seem to hear about it in the U.S.

Char

_________

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Oct 12;107(41):17645-50. Epub 2010 Sep 27.

Occurrence of maize detritus and a transgenic insecticidal protein (Cry1Ab) within the stream network of an agricultural landscape.

Tank JL, Rosi-Marshall EJ, Royer TV, Whiles MR, Griffiths NA, Frauendorf TC, Treering DJ.

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. tank.1@...

Abstract

Widespread planting of maize throughout the agricultural Midwest may result in detritus entering adjacent stream ecosystems, and 63% of the 2009 US maize crop was genetically modified to express insecticidal Cry proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis. Six months after harvest, we conducted a synoptic survey of 217 stream sites in Indiana to determine the extent of maize detritus and presence of Cry1Ab protein in the stream network. We found that 86% of stream sites contained maize leaves, cobs, husks, and/or stalks in the active stream channel. We also detected Cry1Ab protein in stream-channel maize at 13% of sites and in the water column at 23% of sites. We found that 82% of stream sites were adjacent to maize fields, and Geographical Information Systems analyses indicated that 100% of sites containing Cry1Ab-positive detritus in the active stream channel had maize planted within 500 m during the previous crop year. Maize detritus likely enters streams throughout the Corn Belt; using US Department of Agriculture land cover data, we estimate that 91% of the 256,446 km of streams/rivers in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana are located within 500 m of a maize field. Maize detritus is common in low-gradient stream channels in northwestern Indiana, and Cry1Ab proteins persist in maize leaves and can be measured in the water column even 6 mo after harvest. Hence, maize detritus, and associated Cry1Ab proteins, are widely distributed and persistent in the headwater streams of a Corn Belt landscape.

PMID: 20876106 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] PMCID: PMC2955116 [Available on 2011/4/12]