Investigation of transgenic soybean components in soybean from an area of China

BACKGROUND To evaluate the large quantities of genetically modified soybeans that are imported into China, we evaluated the presence of transgenes in soybean samples from an area, which are major soybean‐producing areas. We evaluated the presence of exogenous genes in a total of 254 soybean samples from farms and 35 commercially available soybean samples using polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequence analysis. RESULTS The farm soybean samples contained a total of 67 CaMV35S‐positive samples, 46 NOS‐positive samples, 16 CP4‐EPEPS‐positive samples, and 66 BT‐positive samples. The commercially available soybean samples contained a total of 12 CaMV35S‐positive samples, 19 NOS‐positive samples, 13 CP4‐EPEPS‐positive samples, and 15 BT‐positive samples. CONCLUSION Several exogenous genes were detected in the farmed and commercially available soybeans. We should use caution in the management of genetically modified soybeans. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry