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Biosafety and Ecological Assessment of Genetically Engineered and Edited Crops—2nd...
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Biosafety and Ecological Assessment of Genetically Engineered and Edited Crops—2nd Edition

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Physiology and Crop Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2026) | Viewed by 8707

Editors

Prof. Dr. Charles Neal Stewart, Jr.

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
1. Department of Plant Sciences, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-4561, USA
2. Center for Agricultural Synthetic Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-4561, USA
Interests: biosensors; biotechnology; bioenergy; environmental stress; GFP; phytosensors; plants; promoters; remote sensing; whole organisms; synthetic biology transgenic plants; weedy plants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Wei Wei

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: climate change adaptation/mitigation; biodiversity conservation practices, strategy and policy; plant adaptation and evolution; plant genetic diversity; plant–insect interaction; ecological consequences of genetically modified organisms derived from modern biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In 2023, Plants had published a Special Issue on Biosafety and Ecological Assessment of Engineered and Edited Crops derived from modern biotechnology, receiving great feedback from researchers and published papers that have been well indexed in the literature. In light of the fast advances in this field, the journal is launching a second edition on this topic.

Modern biotechnology and synthetic biology enable the genome modification of crop plants. While majority of these engineered plants have one-or-two transgene additions, gene editing is a major recent approach for improving crops. The synthetic biology of plants is in its early days, but it has the potential to make significant genome changes. Already-engineered crops cover nearly all popular species used for grain, fruit, oil, vegetable, and forestry; monocots and dicots; and annual and perennial plants. Although the biosafety of engineered crops has been debated for the past three decades among scientific communities, regulators, and the public, controversy remains regarding human health and environmental safety. While food safety remains a critical concern for the general public, the ecological consequences may have long-lasting effects on natural/agricultural ecosystems. Increased scientific understanding and strategies are thus needed to cope with any environmental risks caused by or related to the release of engineered crops, especially regarding emerging technologies such as synthetic biology and gene drives. This second edition Special Issue will cover wide scientific topics related to biosafety and ecological assessment studies that connect biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. Discussion on governance policy and strategies for using modern biotechnology to foster sustainable development is also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Charles Neal Stewart, Jr.
Dr. Wei Wei
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ecological consequence
  • environmental release
  • gene drives
  • genome editing
  • genetic engineering
  • genetically modified
  • risk assessment
  • synthetic biology

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 5610 KB  
Article
Evaluation of Resistance in Bt Maize Event DBN3601T Expressing Cry1Ab and Vip3Aa Proteins Against Athetis lepigone (Möschler) in North China
by Zhenghao Zhang, Zhizhang Gong, Guodong Kang, Xianming Yang, Youming Hou and Kongming Wu
Plants 2026, 15(11), 1669; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15111669 - 29 May 2026
Viewed by 825
Abstract
Athetis lepigone (Möschler) is an important pest of maize in North China, whose larvae feed mainly on maize leaves, stems, and roots during the seedling stage, with conventional maize lacking effective resistance to it. In recent years, transgenic Bt maize expressing Cry1Ab and [...] Read more.
Athetis lepigone (Möschler) is an important pest of maize in North China, whose larvae feed mainly on maize leaves, stems, and roots during the seedling stage, with conventional maize lacking effective resistance to it. In recent years, transgenic Bt maize expressing Cry1Ab and Vip3Aa proteins has been commercialized in China; however, its resistance against A. lepigone has not yet been systematically evaluated. In this study, three Bt maize events, DBN3601T expressing Cry1Ab and Vip3Aa, DBN9936 expressing Cry1Ab, and DBN9501 expressing Vip3Aa, were used to comprehensively assess resistance against the pest based on Bt protein expression levels in different maize tissues, larval susceptibility across instars, and larval feeding behavior under controlled laboratory conditions. The results showed that Bt protein expression varied significantly among maize tissues commonly fed upon by the insect, following the general pattern: seedling leaf > stem > root. Bioassays using artificial diets incorporated with freeze-dried maize leaf powder indicated that larvae were significantly more susceptible to Cry1Ab than to Vip3Aa, with LC50 values of 1.05 and 2.65 μg·g−1, respectively. Maize co-expressing both proteins exhibited high insecticidal activity. First-instar larvae displayed feeding avoidance of Bt maize tissues, and early instars were more sensitive than later instars; however, stems and roots showed stronger toxicity to older larvae. In simulated field infestation assays, the control efficacies of DBN3601T, DBN9936, and DBN9501 reached 94.35%, 88.79%, and 10.56%, respectively, at five days post-infestation. Overall, DBN3601T maize exhibited a strong resistance performance against A. lepigone, indicating strong potential for pest management applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosafety and Ecological Assessment of Genetically Engineered and Edited Crops—2nd Edition)
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10 pages, 1596 KB  
Communication
The Effect of Viral Infection on the Growth of HoneySweet GM Plum Trees
by Petr Komínek, Marcela Komínková and Jana Brožová
Plants 2026, 15(6), 903; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15060903 - 14 Mar 2026
Viewed by 662
Abstract
Plum pox virus (PPV) is one of the most destructive pathogens affecting stone fruit trees. It causes sharka disease and severe yield losses. The genetically modified plum cultivar ‘HoneySweet’ was developed to provide long-lasting resistance to PPV via RNA interference. Long-term field trials [...] Read more.
Plum pox virus (PPV) is one of the most destructive pathogens affecting stone fruit trees. It causes sharka disease and severe yield losses. The genetically modified plum cultivar ‘HoneySweet’ was developed to provide long-lasting resistance to PPV via RNA interference. Long-term field trials of ‘HoneySweet’ have been conducted in the Czech Republic since 2001, involving the artificial inoculation of the cultivar with PPV alone, and with apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV) and prune dwarf virus (PDV) in combination. This study evaluates the impact of viral infection on tree growth after 24 years in the field. Growth parameters—trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) and canopy volume—were measured and analysed using ANOVA and Tukey’s test. The results show that infected trees exhibit significantly reduced growth compared to non-infected controls, with the strongest inhibition observed in trees inoculated with PPV + PDV + ACLSV. The presence of ACLSV had the most pronounced negative effect on growth, while PDV did not significantly influence tree vigour. These findings emphasise the importance of using virus-free rootstocks and certified planting material to prevent growth suppression in HoneySweet orchards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosafety and Ecological Assessment of Genetically Engineered and Edited Crops—2nd Edition)
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16 pages, 3828 KB  
Article
Effects of Continuous Bt Maize Cultivation on Soil Nutrient Content and Microbial Communities
by Xiaomin Liang, Donghua Zhong, Shuai Yan and Yuanjiao Feng
Plants 2026, 15(1), 112; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15010112 - 31 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1308
Abstract
The global population growth has driven the widespread adoption of genetically modified crops, with Bt maize, due to its insect resistance, becoming the second most widely planted GM crop. However, studies on the effects of continuous Bt maize cultivation on soil ecosystems are [...] Read more.
The global population growth has driven the widespread adoption of genetically modified crops, with Bt maize, due to its insect resistance, becoming the second most widely planted GM crop. However, studies on the effects of continuous Bt maize cultivation on soil ecosystems are limited, and there is an urgent need to assess its ecological safety at the regional scale. To evaluate the potential effects of continuous cultivation of transgenic Bt maize on the soil ecosystem, a five-season continuous planting experiment was conducted using two Bt maize varieties (5422Bt1 and 5422CBCL) and their near-isogenic conventional maize (5422). After five consecutive planting seasons, bulk soil and rhizosphere soil were collected. The main nutrient contents of the bulk soil were measured, and high-throughput sequencing was employed to analyze microbial diversity and community composition in both soil types. The results showed that, compared with the near-isogenic conventional maize 5422, continuous planting of Bt maize varieties 5422Bt1 and 5422CBCL did not affect the contents of organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus, or available potassium in bulk soil. Regarding the microbial communities in bulk soil, there were no significant differences in the α-diversity indices of bacteria and fungi after five consecutive seasons of Bt maize cultivation, compared with soils planted with the near-isogenic conventional maize 5422. Proteobacteria and Ascomycota were the dominant phyla of bacteria and fungi, respectively. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the structure of microbial communities in bulk soil was primarily influenced by factors such as OM, TP, TN and AN, whereas the Bt maize varieties had no significant effect on the overall community structure. Regarding the rhizosphere soil microbial communities, compared with the near-isogenic conventional maize 5422, the evenness of the bacterial community in the rhizosphere soil of Bt maize decreased, leading to a reduction in overall diversity, whereas species richness showed no significant change. This change in diversity patterns further contributed to the restructuring of the rhizosphere soil microbial community. In contrast, the fungal community showed no significant differences among treatments, and its community structure remained relatively stable. Proteobacteria and Ascomycota were the dominant phyla of bacteria and fungi, respectively. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) indicated that continuous cultivation of Bt maize for five seasons had no significant effect on the structure of either bacterial or fungal communities in the rhizosphere soil. In summary, continuous cultivation of Bt maize did not lead to significant changes in soil nutrient contents or microbial community structures, providing a data foundation and theoretical basis for the scientific evaluation of the environmental safety of transgenic maize in agricultural ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosafety and Ecological Assessment of Genetically Engineered and Edited Crops—2nd Edition)
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9 pages, 1140 KB  
Communication
Effects of Transgenic Maize DBN9936 (Cry1Ab+EPSPS) and Maize Borer Feeding on Non-Target Organism Euborellia annulipes Lucas (Dermaptera: Anisolabididae)
by Zhixiang Fang, Laipan Liu, Wenjing Shen, Li Zhang, Qi Yu, Zhentao Ren, Xin Yin and Biao Liu
Plants 2025, 14(23), 3559; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14233559 - 21 Nov 2025
Viewed by 737
Abstract
The impacts of transgenic maize on non-target organisms serve as a crucial parameter for evaluating the environmental safety of transgenic maize. In the present study, feeding experiments were carried out on Euborellia annulipes Lucas (Dermaptera: Anisolabididae) using two types of diets: maize (DBN9936 [...] Read more.
The impacts of transgenic maize on non-target organisms serve as a crucial parameter for evaluating the environmental safety of transgenic maize. In the present study, feeding experiments were carried out on Euborellia annulipes Lucas (Dermaptera: Anisolabididae) using two types of diets: maize (DBN9936 and parental maize DBN318) and maize combined with maize borers Ostrinia furnacalis Guenée (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). The survival rate, body weight, body length, reproductive efficiency, and activities of the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) of the predator were monitored. Moreover, the residual concentration of exogenous protein in the bodies, eggs, and feces of the earwigs was measured. The experimental findings indicated that there were no significant disparities in the aforementioned indicators between the transgenic and non-transgenic maize treatment groups. Nevertheless, differences were detected between the maize treatment groups and the maize borer treatment groups, especially regarding egg production. The earwigs in the maize borer treatment groups produced significantly more eggs. Overall, the feeding experiments demonstrated that transgenic maize did not exert adverse effects on E. annulipes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosafety and Ecological Assessment of Genetically Engineered and Edited Crops—2nd Edition)
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15 pages, 1768 KB  
Article
Effects of Bt Rice Straw Extract on Seed Germination and Plant Growth of Pakchoi: Novel Variables of Cropping System
by Chenning Zhang, Wenfang Suo, Yongfang Pan and Yuanjiao Feng
Plants 2025, 14(12), 1797; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14121797 - 12 Jun 2025
Viewed by 1540
Abstract
The incorporation of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) rice straw into fields may influence the growth of subsequent crops, but its ecological risks for winter vegetables remain largely unreported. Investigating the effects of Bt rice straw extracts on the seed germination and plant growth of [...] Read more.
The incorporation of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) rice straw into fields may influence the growth of subsequent crops, but its ecological risks for winter vegetables remain largely unreported. Investigating the effects of Bt rice straw extracts on the seed germination and plant growth of pakchoi (Brassica campestris L. ssp. Chinensis Makino var. communis Tsen et Lee) can provide a theoretical foundation for ecological risk assessments. In this study, straw extracts from non-Bt rice (Tianyouhuazhan), homozygous Bt rice (T775), and heterozygous Bt rice (F1 of T775 hybrid) were used as experimental materials at concentrations of 10, 20, and 40 g·L−1. Results showed that, compared to non-Bt extract, 40 g·L−1 homozygous Bt extract increased seedling height and leaf peroxidase (POD) activity but inhibited catalase (CAT) and root superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities. The 20 g·L−1 extract boosted root CAT activity yet suppressed leaf CAT and POD activities. The 10 g·L−1 extract enhanced root length but reduced leaf CAT and POD activities. The 40 g·L−1 heterozygous Bt extract increased leaf and root POD activity but inhibited germination rate and leaf SOD activity. The 10 g·L−1 extract promoted root length and seedling POD activity but suppressed leaf POD activity. In plant growth assessments, the 10 g·L−1 homozygous Bt extract reduced underground dry weight, and the 10 g·L−1 heterozygous Bt extract inhibited both above and underground dry weight, while the 20 g·L−1 heterozygous Bt extract increased aboveground dry weight. In conclusion, the effects of homozygous and heterozygous Bt rice straw extracts on pakchoi varied with concentration and physiological indices, showing no clear pattern. Optimizing straw return concentrations based on Bt rice variety differences is essential to mitigate ecological risks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosafety and Ecological Assessment of Genetically Engineered and Edited Crops—2nd Edition)
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Review

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30 pages, 1209 KB  
Review
Complexity Meets Risk—The Next Generation of Genome-Edited Plants Challenges Established Concepts for Environmental Risk Assessment in the EU
by Marion Dolezel, Marianne Miklau, Andreas Heissenberger, Iris Kroeger and Mathias Otto
Plants 2025, 14(11), 1723; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14111723 - 5 Jun 2025
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2596
Abstract
For 20 years, the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of genetically modified plants (GMPs) has used a comparative assessment approach, comparing the GMP to presumably safe and familiar non-modified plant varieties. With new genomic techniques, it is now possible to design complex GMP applications [...] Read more.
For 20 years, the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of genetically modified plants (GMPs) has used a comparative assessment approach, comparing the GMP to presumably safe and familiar non-modified plant varieties. With new genomic techniques, it is now possible to design complex GMP applications with systemic metabolic changes, resulting in novel plant phenotypes. These plant phenotypes can exhibit profoundly altered morphological, physiological, or compositional characteristics, intentionally lacking equivalence with parental plants and non-modified comparators. Through the analysis of case studies involving GMPs with modifications of complex metabolic pathways, we evaluate the current practice of the comparative safety assessment approach applied in ERA in the European Union and its ability to inform ERA, particularly regarding environmental risks. Our findings show that the existing approach has notable weaknesses when applied to complex GMP applications. We suggest complementing ERA with a hypothesis-driven assessment approach that considers various protection goals and relies on whole-plant experimental assessments to draw risk conclusions. As plant modifications become increasingly complex, such as the development of synthetic biology plants, conducting ecologically realistic assessments will be crucial for future ERA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosafety and Ecological Assessment of Genetically Engineered and Edited Crops—2nd Edition)
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