| Genetically modified crops could cause negative effects on bacterial communities. In this study, we compared the bacterial community structure of two maize cultivars to determine whether the transgenic cultivar exerts a negative effect on bacterial communities inhabiting the rhizosphere. Cultivars included the genetically modified maize (Zea mays), with the pat-gene conferring resistance to the herbicide glufosinate (synonym: L-phosphinothricin), and the hybrid, conventional maize. Metagenomic DNA was extracted from the rhizosphere of plants grown in a greenhouse. Single-strand conformation polymorphism, based on polymerase chain reaction amplifying a partial subunit rRNA gene was used to characterize and generate genetic profiles that corresponded to the... |
