Transgenic Cotton Seeds Research Articles

On ALIF-WT-GDA-based Terahertz spectral method for identification of transgenic cotton seeds

Terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy can interact with organic molecules to produce “resonance” absorption, and it is suitable for qualitative and quantitative analysis on the basis of spectral absorption mechanism. However, there are some problems with it, such as un-obviousness signal peaks and positions, signal oscillations and low recognition accuracy. Therefore, this paper has proposed a method named ALIF-WT-GDA-based THz spectrum for identifying transgenic cotton seeds, which can strengthen and accurately identify features of the THz spectral data. First, this paper has put forward a pretreatment method of THz spectral data based on Adaptive Local Iterative Filtering (ALIF) and Wavelet Transform (WT). Specifically speaking, ALIF is used to decompose THz time-domain spectral signals and extract useful mode components for signal reconstruction in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Also, WT is employed to perform smoothing filtering of THz signals, which makes THz absorbance curves much smoother and absorption peak positions much more obvious. Then, thanks to the advantages of kernel methods, Generalized Discriminant Analysis (GDA) method of Kernel Fisher Discriminant Analysis (KFDA) is used for dimension reduction and clustering analysis. Finally, the proposed ALIF-WT-GDA method is adopted for pretreatment and clustering of the THz spectral data from four different types of transgenic cotton seeds, with its identification accuracy of 98.33%. The above result has proved that the proposed ALIF-WT-GDA method is effective.

Improved Kernel Entropy Composition Analysis method for transgenic cotton seeds recognition based on Terahertz Spectroscopy

Terahertz (THz) Spectroscopy, featured by low energy, instantaneity and spectral fingerprint, is promising in material identification. Kernel Entropy Composition Analysis (KECA), different from the commonly used THz time-domain spectroscopy analysis methods of PCA and Kernel Principal Component Analysis (KPCA), focuses on decomposing eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a kernel matrix where its original spectral data are projected into a high-dimensional feature space, selecting eigenvectors as projection vectors which contribute most to Rayleigh entropy of original data and getting a new database. However, the parameters selection of kernel function in traditional KECA method have a significant effect on the accuracy of final analysis results. Aimed at this problem, this paper has proposed a new approach called improved KECA method for transgenic cotton seeds recognition based on Terahertz Spectroscopy. The improved KECA takes as the criterion function difference between intra-class and inter-class dispersion based on angular structure for Kernel parameter optimization, and selects kernel parameter with the maximum value of the criterion function as the best option. Then, the clustering method based on angular structure distance is used for the identification of different substance species. In order to test whether the proposed method is effective or not, this paper has applied the THz time-domain spectroscopy technology to detect the three transgenic cotton seeds of Xinluzhong6, Xinqiu107 and Yingmian8 respectively. And then the absorbance spectrum data of these three cotton seeds will be subject to clustering analysis through the proposed improved KECA method.

Engineered resistance and risk assessment associated with insecticidal and weeds resistant transgenic cotton using wister rat model

Stacking multiple genes into cotton crop to cop up multiple biotic stresses such as insects and weeds is a promising tool to save crop from losses. Transgenic cotton variety, VH-289, with double Bt and cp4EPSPS genes under the control of 35S promoter was used for the expression analyses and biosafety studies. The transgenic cotton plants were screened through PCR amplification of fragments, 1.7 kb for Cry1Ac, 582 bp for Cry2A and 250 bp for cp4EPSPS; which confirmed the presence of all genes transformed in transgenic cotton. The Cry1Ac + Cry2A and cp4EPSPS proteins were quantified through ELISA in transgenic cotton plants. The Glyphosate assay performed by spraying 1900 mL per acre of glyphosate Roundup further confirmed complete survival of transgenic cotton plants as compared to the non-transgenic cotton plants and all weeds. Similarly, insect infestation data determined that almost 99% insect mortality was observed in controlled field grown transgenic cotton plants as compared to the non-transgenic control plants. Evaluation of effect of temperature and soil nutrients availability on transgene expression in cotton plants was done at two different cotton growing regions, Multan and Lahore, Pakistan and results suggested that despite of higher temperature in Multan field, an increased level of Cry and cp4EPSPS proteins was recorded due to higher soil organic matter availability compared to Lahore field. Before commercialization of any transgenic variety its biosafety study is mandatory so, a 90 days biosafety study of the transgenic cotton plants with 40% transgenic cottonseeds in standard diet showed no harmful effect on wister rat model when studied for liver function, renal function and serum electrolyte.

Improved fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm based on t-SNE for terahertz spectral recognition

Terahertz (THz) waves characterized by low energy, instantaneity and proficiency in spectral analysis, have promising future in material identification. The main dimensionality reduction methods of Terahertz-based material identification, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Local Preserving Projection (LPP) and Local Linear Embedding (LLE), are sensitive to the number of nearest neighbor samples and neglect difference among classes, thus making it difficult to design the subsequent clustering model or leading to incorrect clustering. The t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE), which regards the sample distribution in the high-dimension as a Gaussian distribution and the coordinates in the low-dimension as t-distribution, makes the distance of clusters with long distance longer and then relieve their congestion. Besides, in the traditional Fuzzy C-means (FCM) clustering methods, the initial clustering center is randomly determined, so the problem of local optimum is easy to appear, which is prone to cause wrong recognition. To solve the above problems, an improved FCM algorithm is proposed in this paper for Terahertz spectral recognition. Firstly, t-SNE method is used for dimensional reduction and for the selection of initial clustering center for a more accurate clustering effect. On this basis, classical FCM clustering is used to recognize different substances through Terahertz spectrum. The algorithm can not only relieve the congestion among classes in the process of clustering, but also reflect the distance there for an appropriate cluster center in samples. In order to verify the reliability of the proposed method, the Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy is used to detect three genetically modified cotton seeds of lumianyan28, lumianyan29 and lumianyan36 respectively, obtaining their time-domain spectral data. It is the proposed method, which is used to analyze the spectral data, that successfully distinguishes three different types of transgenic cotton seeds, with a total accuracy of 0.9668. The result shows that the clustering method proposed in the paper has a bright prospect in identifying the Terahertz spectrum of materials.

Paper-Based Simplified Visual Detection of Cry2Ab Insecticide from Transgenic Cottonseed Samples Using Integrated Quantum Dots-IgY Antibodies.

In the present study, an easy to use field-deployable methodology was developed for onsite detection of pesticidal crystal protein Cry2Ab from transgenic cotton crops to reduce seed adulteration. Anti Cry2Ab IgG and IgY antibodies were developed against recombinant Cry2Ab protein in New Zealand white rabbits and in white leg horn chickens, respectively. Carboxyl-functionalized CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were used as revealing probes, and nitrocellulose paper was used as an assay matrix. Recombinant Cry2Ab was generated in the lab and used for immunization of chicken and rabbits. After successful immunization and attaining the desired titer values (1:32 000 for IgY and 1:64 000 for IgG), eggs and hyperimmune sera were collected. Anti Cry2Ab IgY was purified as per the standardized protocols, and anti Cry2Ab IgG was purified using protein A affinity chromatography. Sensitivity of the generated antibodies was examined using indirect ELISA methods against recombinant Cr2Ab protein. Specificity evaluation was carried out against other Cry proteins including Cry2Ab, Cry4b, Cry4a, Cry1Ec, and Cry1Ac. Functionalized CdTe QDs were characterized for structure and shape as well as fluorescence properties using standard laboratory techniques. A field-deployable paper-based detection methodology was developed where IgG acted as the capturing antibody and IgY-linked CdTe QDs were used as revealing probes. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were found to be 2.91 ng/mL and 9.71 ng/mL, respectively. The effect of matrix interference was assessed on the different plant crude extracts of cottonseed materials.

Production of tocotrienols in seeds of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) enhances oxidative stability and offers nutraceutical potential.

Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is an economically important multi‐purpose crop cultivated globally for fibre, seed oil and protein. Cottonseed oil also is naturally rich in vitamin E components (collectively known as tocochromanols), with α‐ and γ‐tocopherols comprising nearly all of the vitamin E components. By contrast, cottonseeds have little or no tocotrienols, tocochromanols with a wide range of health benefits. Here, we generated transgenic cotton lines expressing the barley (Hordeum vulgare) homogentisate geranylgeranyl transferase coding sequence under the control of the Brassica napus seed‐specific promoter, napin. Transgenic cottonseeds had ~twofold to threefold increases in the accumulation of total vitamin E (tocopherols + tocotrienols), with more than 60% γ‐tocotrienol. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization‐mass spectrometry imaging showed that γ‐tocotrienol was localized throughout the transgenic embryos. In contrast, the native tocopherols were distributed unequally in both transgenic and non‐transgenic embryos. α‐ Tocopherol was restricted mostly to cotyledon tissues and γ‐tocopherol was more enriched in the embryonic axis tissues. Production of tocotrienols in cotton embryos had no negative impact on plant performance or yield of other important seed constituents including fibre, oil and protein. Advanced generations of two transgenic events were field grown, and extracts of transgenic seeds showed increased antioxidant activity relative to extracts from non‐transgenic seeds. Furthermore, refined cottonseed oil from the two transgenic events showed 30% improvement in oxidative stability relative to the non‐transgenic cottonseed oil. Taken together, these materials may provide new opportunities for cottonseed co‐products with enhanced vitamin E profile for improved shelf life and nutrition.

Evaluation the effect of subchronic feeding of transgenic cotton line (CKC1) on the faecal microbiota of albino rabbits

Recent studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between the intestinal microbiota and the host health. As such, consumers are increasingly becoming more concerned about the potential effect of certain foods/feeds, particularly of transgenic origin on the gut microbiota. Although the European Food Safety Authority has recommended in their guidelines, to study the effect of transgenic food/feed on host-microbiota, yet, few studies have focused on the evaluation of such effects mainly due to culturing difficulties. Therefore, this study was intended to evaluate the potential adverse effects of transgenic diet consumption on some specific gut microflora (Lactobacillus group, Bifidobacterium genus, Escherichia coli subgroup and Enterococcus genus) of rabbits. A total of forty-eight rabbits were randomly assigned into four groups and fed a diet containing a variable proportion of transgenic cottonseeds at 0, 20, 30 and 40% inclusion level, respectively. Changes in the specific or total faecal bacterial population were monitored at five different experimental stages (i.e. 0, 45, 90, 135 and 180days) using both the traditional plate count method (TM) and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). No significant differences (p>.05) were observed concerning numbers of specific bacteria or total bacteria between the control and experimental groups, though qPCR showed numerically higher values in terms of 16S rRNA gene copies as compared to the values obtained from TM. However, such numerical differences were biologically insignificant (p>.05). Similarly, no significant variations were noticed in the calculated B/E (log10 copies of Bifidobacterium per g faces/log10 copies of E. coli genome per g faeces) ratios in all the groups. All the ratios were in the range of 1.24 to 1.30 throughout the experiment, indicating a good balance of intestinal microflora and greater resistance to intestinal disorders. It is therefore concluded that feeding transgenic cottonseeds could not adversely affect the gut microflora of rabbits during a long-term study.

A 90−day subchronic toxicity study of transgenic cotton expressing Cry1Ac, Cry2A and CP4−EPSPS proteins in Sprague−Dawley rats

Genetically engineered crops expressing insecticidal and herbicide-tolerant traits offer a new strategy for crop protection and enhanced production; however, at the same time present a challenge in terms of toxicology and safety. The current experiment presents the findings of a 90-day feeding study in Sprague−Dawley rats with transgenic cottonseed which is expressing insecticidal Cry proteins (Cry1Ac and Cry2A), and tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate. There were 100 rats in this experiment divided into 5 groups of 10 rats/sex/group. Cottonseed from transgenic and control (near-isogenic) lines was formulated into standard diets at levels of 10% and 30% (w/w). All formulated diets were nutritionally balanced. Overall appearance, feed consumption, body weight, organ weight, haematology, serum chemistry and urinalysis were comparable between control and treatment groups. In addition, there was no treatment-related difference in findings of microscopic histopathology and gross appearance of tissues. In conclusion, following the 13-week of feeding transgenic cottonseed, no treatment-related adverse effects were observed in any of the parameters measured in this experiment. Thus, this study demonstrated that transgenic cottonseeds do not cause toxicity and are nutritionally equivalent to its conventional counterpart.

Preliminary study on discrimination of transgenic cotton seeds using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.

Presence of genetically modified (GM) organisms is considered to be controversial by legislation and public. It is very important to develop detection methods for early discriminations. Conventional gene detection methods, including protein detection (PCR, ELISA, and so on) and DNA detection (Southern blot, GC/MS, and so on), have the disadvantages of high costs, time‐consuming, complex operations, and destructive of the samples. Terahertz spectroscopy (THz) is a brand‐new radiation with many unique advantages. Most biological macromolecules have fingerprint characteristics in THz band from the current recognition. In this study, feasibility of identifying the transgenic cotton seeds from nontransgenic counterparts using THz spectroscopy method was investigated. The transgenic cotton seeds‐Lumianyan No.28 and nontransgenic cotton seeds‐Xinluzao No.51 were selected and the sample‐making methods were studied; then the refractive and absorption curves of samples were got and given a detailed discussion; finally, absorption index of transgenic and nontransgenic DNA was observed and discussed. The results showed there were small fluctuations in THz band, and refractive index of transgenic seeds was lower than nontransgenic ones and had obvious turning point at 1.4–2.0 THz region. There were significant peaks in 1.0–1.2 and 1.3–1.5 THz regions for the transgenic cotton seeds. Transgenic DNA had higher absorption index than nontransgenic DNA, and there were 3–4 peaks corresponding to the cotton seed samples in 1.0–1.6 THz region. These results showed cotton seeds samples can provide important bio‐information in THz band, and this study provided a basis for developing potential THz‐based gene detection technologies.

Specific Upregulation of a Cotton Phytoene Synthase Gene Produces Golden Cottonseeds with Enhanced Provitamin A

Provitamin A (PVA) bio-fortification of crops offers a sustainable strategy to prevent the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD), one of the world’s major public health problems. The present work aimed to enhance PVA accumulation in cottonseed, the main by-product in the production of cotton fibers and the third largest source of edible plant oil in the world. On the basis of comprehensive identification of carotenoid synthase genes and their expression levels in various cotton tissues, we selected phytoene synthase as the target for manipulating carotenoid biosynthesis in the developing cottonseeds. After functional verification in transgenic tobacco, a cotton phytoene synthase gene (GhPSY2D) driven by a seed-specific promoter was transformed into cotton. The transgenic cottonseeds showed golden appearance and contained over 6-fold higher carotenoid contents in the extracted oil than the non-transgenic control. Thin layer chromatograph analysis indicated that the main PVA carotenoid β-carotene was predominant in the transgenic cottonseeds, but undetectable in the wild-type control. By simultaneously providing economically valuable fibers and edible oils, the transgenic cottons bio-fortified with β-carotene in seeds may be a new powerful tool against VAD in low-income regions.

Characterization of transgenic cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) over-expressing Arabidopsis thaliana Related to ABA-insensitive3(ABI3)/Vivparous1 (AtRAV1) and AtABI5 transcription factors: improved water use efficiency through altered guard cell physiology

We investigated select transgenic lines of Gossypium hirsutum that over-express AtRAV1 or AtABI5 transcription factors. The hypothesis is that these lines have enhanced responses to abscisic acid (ABA) resulting in greater water use efficiencies (WUE). We measured leaf surface temperatures (LST), stomatal density, absolute and relative sizes of guard cell apertures, and ABA concentrations in cotyledons. We characterized transgene protein expression and activities in transient assays in Nicotiana benthamiana, in transgenic cotton seeds by immunoblot and by endogenous expression in leaves of an effector of ABA responses (GhDREB). AtRAV11-1-5 and AtABI51-1-1 over-expression lines had trends of lower levels of ABA in well-watered and drought-stressed cotyledons, and all events tested had higher leaf stomatal conductance and photosynthesis rates under drought in greenhouse, and lower LSTs than control Coker 312 under drought stress conditions. Notably, AtRAV11-1-5 cotyledons had significantly higher stomatal densities and 26% smaller guard cell apertures than Coker 312 under drought stress, providing a plausible explanation why LSTs across lines were lower concordant with smaller stomatal apertures. These traits may contribute to intrinsic WUE and assimilate traits of larger leaf areas and longer boll fibers previously shown in these and several independent AtRAV1 and AtABI5 events in the greenhouse and field. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that over-expression of AtRAV1 results in an ABA-hypersensitive phenotype manifest as reduced expression of endogenous GhDREB effector, and lower levels of endogenous ABA in cotyledons associated with greater reductions in pore apertures during stress and increased stomatal density.

Using terahertz spectroscopy to identify transgenic cottonseed oil according to physicochemical quality parameters

This study proposed a non-destructive and rapid distinguish methodology for transgenic cottonseed oil according to physicochemical quality parameters applying terahertz spectroscopy and chemometric tools. 50 samples of transgenic cottonseed oils, belong different manufacturers, are used in this paper. The physicochemical quality parameters of cottonseed oils are estimated by GB/T 22223-2008. Terahertz spectra are employed in data preprocessing by of Savitzky–Golay derivative and offset baseline correction after principal component analysis (PCA). The linear discriminant analysis combines with successive projection algorithm (SPA-LDA) and discriminant analysis by partial least squares (PLS-DA) are applied to build identification models. in order to evaluate the performance of these identification models, 50 samples are divided into two groups, including training setsand test sets, by using different selection methods (Kennard-Stone, Duplex and Random). The obtained results show that the terahertz spectra can be apply as an alternative to identify different transgenic cottonseed oil from non-transgenic ones.

A novel THz spectroscopy recognition method for transgenic organisms based on APSO combined with SVM

Currently, the transgenic products detection methods are mostly based on visible/near-infrared light spectrum. In addition, it is hard to set up the parameters in the support vector machine (SVM) model and there is a large amount of calculation on spectrum data. To solve these problems, this paper proposed an algorithm based on terahertz (THz) spectrum and SVM using adaptive particle swarm optimize (APSO-SVM) for building up the classifications of transgenic cotton seed. To conduct the transgenic cotton seed classification, within the wavelength region 150 μm—3 mm, the THz spectrums are first sampled from 165 samples of three newest transgenic cotton seeds. Then, the 165 transgenic cotton seeds are recognized based on the APSO-SVM. Experiment results indicate that the total recognition rate is up to 97.3%, which prove that the THz spectrum combined with APSO-SVM can provide a reliable, rapid, simple and nondestructive detection method for transgenic cotton seed.

Research on Gene Mobility and Gene Flow Between Genetically Modified Mon 15985 Cotton andPleurotus Ostreatus

The possibilities of gene mobility and gene flow between Pleurotus ostreatus and its culture medium transgenic cotton were determined. The results showed that P. ostreatus cultivated in the medium with transgenic cottonseed hulls grew more slowly for approximately 5 days than in the medium without transgenic component. But there was no significant difference in the yield after 240 days. Exogenous genes of the GM cottonseed hulls were successfully detected in the DNA of P. ostreatus, however, they could not be detected at the RNA level. The growth of P. ostreatus was delayed by transgenic cotton, and it could accept foreign genes during the cultivation process from 60 to 240 days. Whereas, the foreign genes did not integrated into the P. ostreatus genome, which possibly due to these genes were unstable or the necessary conditions or substances required for gene flow were not present. Practical Applications This work has been systematically studied the gene mobility and gene flow between Pleurotus ostreatus and its culture medium transgenic cotton were determined. The growth states of the P. ostreatus between the transgenic cottonseed hulls and control group were observed. An efficient DNA extraction method of P. ostreatus was discussed, after determining of the DNA concentration, purity and digestion ability, the optimized magnetic DNA purification system was chosen as the best method, which can be applied in many aspects related to the DNA extraction of mushroom. The exogenous genes of transgenic cotton were detection from DNA and RNA of P. ostreatus. Through PCR amplification, the exogenous genes were detected in the DNA, but not in the RNA, which meant the exogenous genes did not integrate into the genome of the mushroom. The results in this study can further bring certain reference value of the use of the GM crops residues.

A novel ADPSO-SVM combined with terahertz spectroscopy for recognition of transgenic organisms

A novel adaptive dynamic particle swarm optimization (ADPSO) combined with support vector machine (SVM) is proposed for Transgenic Organisms distinguish based on terahertz spectroscopy (THz). The ADPSO-SVM algorithm includes perception and an updated mechanism. In each screening step, the algorithm can perception the change of the external environment and update the particle swarm to obtain the global optimal solution. Some transgenic cotton seeds data set mimicking the terahertz spectra of tissue samples are applied to evaluate the performance of the ADPSO-SVM. The experimental results show that, the recognition rate of ADPSO-SVM reaches to 96.970%. Therefore, the ADPSO-SVM can provide an accurate, fast, simple, and nondestructive detection method for transgenic cotton combined with terahertz spectroscopy.

Study on identification methods in the detection of transgenic material based on terahertz time domain spectroscopy

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system was used to measure the characteristic absorption spectra of 8 transgenic cotton seeds in the frequency range from 0.3 to 1.5 THz. Comparing the similarities and differences of THz absorption spectrum of eight kinds of transgenic cotton seeds, which is based on spectral analysis, and using principal component analysis to perform qualitative analysis, the relevant data of spectral analysis was obtained. Three principal component factors were extracted in this paper, which the cumulative percentage variance reached 71.537 %. Therefore, different categories of transgenic cotton seeds were clearly distinguished according to the principal component analysis score chart. The experimental results indicated that nondestructive testing of transgenic cotton seeds could be achieved by using Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system technology, which could be widely applied in the fields of agricultural seed selection, agricultural security and so on.

Classification and recognition of transgenic product by terahertz spectroscopy and DSVM

The purpose of this paper is to construct a classification model that can identify class accurately and control imbalance. A novel adaptive decision support vector machine (DSVM) is proposed for the recognition of transgenic cotton seed based on terahertz spectroscopy (THz), which make the traditional support vector machine is ability of adaptive decision, and select optimal parameters by using particle swarm optimization (PSO). For the classification and recognition of the transgenic cotton seeds, firstly, the factor analysis (FA) is applied to reduce the dimension and extract the feature spectrum of original spectral information. Secondly, the feature spectrum is selected and fed into the model of DSVM to recognize the different transgenic cotton seeds. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively classify the different transgenic cotton seeds, and its recognition rate surpasses the comparative method evidently.

A THz spectroscopy nondestructive identification method for transgenic cotton seed based on GA-SVM

The purpose of this paper is to construct an identification model that can discriminate different transgenic cotton seeds with similar characteristics based on terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. An improved support vector machine (SVM) which using genetic algorithm (GA) to optimize parameters is proposed in this paper. Principal Component Analysis is applied to extract relevant features from original spectrum information and eliminate the anomalous samples. Instead of original spectral information, the feature spectrum is selected to be fed into the model of GA-SVM, where an improved SVM method to identify those samples. The results demonstrate that the GA-SVM method can effectively identify the distinct transgenic cottons, and THz spectroscopy can provide a nondestructive, rapid and reliable method to distinguish different transgenic cottons.

Comparison of chemical composition of different transgenic insect-resistant cotton seeds using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)

The comparison of chemical composition of genetic modification (GM) crops to their conventional counterparts forms the basis of safety assessment process for GM crops. In this study, we used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to detect the chemical and conformational changes between transgenic cotton seeds and their non-transgenic counterparts. The assignment of absorption bands and comparison in band areas of four regions from original FTIR spectra indicated that the contents of the compounds did not differ significantly between transgenic cotton seeds and their non-transgenic counterparts (P > 0.05). The comparison of Fourier self-deconvolution (FSD) and after peak-smoothing spectra in the region between 2000 and 1000 cm-1showed that the differences in band pattern can be observed obviously between transgenic cotton seeds and its counterpart, depending on the varieties. The changes in the protein profile of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton seeds Z30 were significant, both in multi-peaks-fitted protein structures and its ratios, compared with non-transgenic cotton seeds Z16 (P < 0.05). However, transgenic Bt + cowpea trypsin inhibitor (CpTI) cotton seeds SGK321, did not show significant changes, in comparison with non-transgenic cotton seeds SY321. These results indicated that both the indigenous and exogenous proteins structural changes in genetically modified organism (GMO) are worth being detected in detail for research related to its’ safety assessment. Key words: Transgenic, cotton seeds, safety assessment, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Nutritional evaluation of transgenic cottonseed in the ration of lactating dairy cows

The effects of feeding transgenic (Bt) whole cottonseed (WCS) were studied in lactating cows. Twenty multiparous crossbred cows (Karan Swiss x Karan Fries) in early lactation were given a concentrate mixture containing 40% crushed delinted non-transgenic (non-Bt) WCS, 2 kg wheat straw and green fodder ad lib for a 15-day adaptation period. Thereafter, the cows were divided in two similar groups of 10 each on the basis of milk yield, body weight (BW) and date of calving. The non-Bt control group continued on same ration, while for the Bt group the non-Bt WCS was replaced by transgenic WCS, in a feeding trial of four weeks. The diets provided a minimum of 2 kg cottonseed/cow/d. Mean DMI/100 kg BW and milk yield of non-Bt and Bt groups was 3.48 and 3.45 kg and 11.4 and 12.0 kg/d, respectively. Intake of nutrients, digestibility, milk production and body condition score (BCS) did not differ between the groups (P > 0.05), but BW gain was higher (P < 0.05) in the Bt group than the non-Bt group, probably as a result of hoof problem in two cows of non-Bt group, which when compared excluding two animals from each group did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). Transgenic protein (Cry1C) was not detected in the weekly milk samples or in blood plasma at the end of the experiment, showing that delinted WCS containing Cry1C protein can safely be fed to lactating cows.