Assessment of Populus wood chemistry following the introduction of a Bt toxin gene.

Unintended changes in plant physiology, anatomy and metabolism as a result of genetic engineering are a concern as more transgenic plants are commercially deployed in the ecosystem. We compared the cell wall chemical composition of three Populus lines (Populus trichocarpa Torr. & A. Gray x Populus trichocarpa Bartr. ex Marsh., Populus trichocarpa x Populus nigra L. and Populus deltoides x Populus nigra) genetically modified to express the Cry3A or Cry3B2 protein of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) with the cell wall chemistry of non-transformed isogenic control lines. Three genetically modified clones, each represented by 10 independent transgenic lines, were analyzed by pyrolysis molecular beam mass spectrometry, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and traditional wet chemical analytical methods to assess changes in cell wall composition. Based on the outcome of these techniques, there were no comprehensive differences in chemical composition between the transgenic and control lines for any of the studied clones.