Compositional equivalence of insect-protected glyphosate-tolerant soybean MON 87701 × MON 89788 to conventional soybean extends across different world regions and multiple growing seasons.

The soybean product MON 87701 × MON 89788 expresses both the cry1Ac gene derived from Bacillus thuringiensis and the cp4 epsps (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) gene derived from Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4. Each biotechnology-derived trait confers specific benefits of insect resistance and glyphosate tolerance, respectively. The purpose of this study was to compare the composition of seed and forage from this combined-trait product to those of conventional soybean grown in geographically and climatically distinct regions. Field trials were conducted in the United States during the 2007 growing season, in Argentina during the 2007-2008 growing season, and in the northern and southern soybean regions of Brazil during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 growing seasons. Results demonstrated that the compositional equivalence of MON 87701 × MON 89788 to the conventional soybean extended across all regions and growing seasons. Further evaluation of the data showed that natural variation (region and growing season) contributed more to compositional variability in soybean, particularly for such components as isoflavones, fatty acids, and vitamin E, than transgene insertion.

Compositional variability in conventional and glyphosate-tolerant soybean (Glycine max L.) varieties grown in different regions in Brazil.

The compositions of a diverse range of commercially available conventional and genetically modified (GM; glyphosate-tolerant) soybean varieties from maturity groups 8 and 5, respectively, grown in the northern and southern soybean regions of Brazil during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 growing seasons were compared. Compositional analyses included measurement of essential macro- and micronutrients, antinutrients, and selected secondary metabolites in harvested seed as well as measurement of proximates in both forage and harvested seed. Statistical comparisons utilized a mixed analysis of variance model to evaluate the relative contributions of growing season, soybean growing region, production site, phenotype (GM or conventional), and variety. The study highlighted extensive variability in the overall data set particularly for components such as fatty acids, vitamin E, and isoflavones. There were few differences between the GM and non-GM populations, and most of the variability in the data set could be attributed to regional and variety differences. Overall, the results were consistent with the expanding literature on the lack of any meaningful impact of transgene insertion on crop composition.

Compositions of forage and seed from second-generation glyphosate-tolerant soybean MON 89788 and insect-protected soybean MON 87701 from Brazil are equivalent to those of conventional soybean (Glycine max).

Brazil has become one of the largest soybean producers. Two Monsanto Co. biotechnology-derived soybean products are designed to offer benefits in weed and pest management. These are second-generation glyphosate-tolerant soybean, MON 89788, and insect-protected soybean, MON 87701. The second-generation glyphosate-tolerant soybean product, MON 89788, contains the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase gene derived from Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4 (cp4 epsps). MON 87701 contains the cry1Ac gene and expression of the Cry1Ac protein providing protection from feeding damage caused by certain lepidopteran insect pests. The purpose of this assessment was to determine whether the compositions of seed and forage of MON 89788 and MON 87701 are comparable to those of conventional soybean grown in two geographically and climatically distinct regions in multiple replicated sites in Brazil during the 2007-2008 growing season. Overall, results demonstrated that the seed and forage of MON 89788 and MON 87701 are compositionally equivalent to those of conventional soybean. Strikingly, the results also showed that differences in mean component values of forage and seed from the two controls grown in the different geographical regions were generally greater than that observed in test and control comparisons. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) of compositional data generated on MON 89788, MON 87701, and their respective region-specific controls provide a graphical illustration of how natural variation contributes more than biotechnology-driven genetic modification to compositional variability in soybean. Levels of isoflavones and fatty acids were particularly variable.