title: Risk management tools and the case study Brassica napus: evaluating possible effects of genetically modified plants on soil microbial diversity.
abstract: The cultivation of GMPs in Europe raises many questions about the environmental risks, in particular about their ecological impact on non-target organisms and on soil properties. The aim of a multidisciplinary group engaged in a LIFE+project (MAN-GMP-ITA) was to validate and improve an existing environmental risk assessment (ERA) methodology on GMPs within the European legislative framework on GMOs. Given the impossibility of evaluating GMO impact directly, as GMPs are banned in Italy, GMPs have not been used at any stage of the project. The project thus specifically focused on the conditions for the implementation of ERA in different areas of Italy, with an emphasis on some sensitive and protected areas located in the North, Centre, and South of the country, in order to lay the necessary baseline for evaluating the possible effects of a GMP on soil communities. Our sub-group carried out soil analyses in order to obtain soil health and fertility indicators to be used as baselines in the ERA model. Using various methods of chemical, biochemical, functional and genetic analysis, our study assessed the changes in diversity and functionality of bacterial populations, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The results show that plant identity and growth, soil characteristics, and field site climatic parameters are key factors in contributing to variation in microbial community structure and diversity, thus validating our methodological approach. Our project has come to the conclusion that the uneven composition and biological-agronomical quality of soils need to be taken into consideration in a risk analysis within the framework of ERA for the release of genetically modified plants.
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro di Ricerca per lo studio delle relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo, Via della Navicella 2, 4, Roma 00184, Italy. Electronic address: loredana.canfora@entecra.it.
authors.forename: Loredana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Canfora
authors.affiliation: C.N.R. - Istituto di Biologia e Biotecnologia Agraria UOS Pisa, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sbrana
authors.affiliation: C.N.R. - Istituto di Biologia e Biotecnologia Agraria UOS Pisa, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Avio
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro di Ricerca per lo studio delle relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo, Via della Navicella 2, 4, Roma 00184, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Felici
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro di Ricerca per la Produzione delle carni e del miglioramento genetico, cxVia Salaria 31, Monterotondo Scalo 00016, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Carmela
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Scatà
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro di Ricerca per lo studio delle relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo, Via della Navicella 2, 4, Roma 00184, Italy.
authors.forename: Ulderico
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Neri
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro di Ricerca per lo studio delle relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo, Via della Navicella 2, 4, Roma 00184, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benedetti
mesh_terms: D029688:Brassica napus / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D038821:Mycorrhizae; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D012308:Risk Management; D012988:Soil Microbiology
keywords: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF); ERA (environmental risk assessment); Genetically modified plants (GMP); Risk assessment; Soil bacterial communities; T-RFLP (terminal-restriction length polymorphism)