The vitamin E enhanced transgenic soybean was developed by introducing a perilla γ- tocopherol methyltransferase gene (γ-TMT) under the control of pea vicilin promoter and a selection marker, phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) gene. With regard to the potential problems of safety, the non-target organism evaluation is required as an essential element for the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified (GM) crops. We studied the effects of the vitamin E enhanced transgenic soybean feeding on survival of Daphnia magna which is commonly used as a model organism in ecotoxicological studies. The Daphnia magna was fed on vitamin E enhanced transgenic soybean and non-genetically modified (non-GM) soybean (Willams 82) at 0, 1,000, 1,800, 3,240, 5,830, 10,500 and 20,000 mg/L concentrations, respectively. The GM soybean used for the test was confirmed to have the γ-TMT/PAT gene expression by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. The results showed that there was no significant differences between cumulative immobilities of Daphnia magna fed on GM soybean and non-GM soybean. The 48hr-EC50 values showed no significant differences between GM soybean (2,416 mg/L) and non-GM soybean (2,408 mg/L). The results of this study suggested that there was no significant differences in toxicity for Daphnia magna between GM soybean and non-GM counterpart.

This study was carried out to develop of environmental risk assessments and the biosafety guide for Vitamin E enhanced transgenic soybean at LMO (Living Modified Organism) isolation field. In LMO quarantine area of National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, insect species diversities and population densities on vitamin E enhanced transgenic soybean and non-GM soybeans (Willams 82 and Seoritae) were investigated. A total of 17,717 individuals of 77 species from 8 orders were collected in LMO isolation field. In three type soybeans field, total of 5,250 individuals in Vitamin E enhanced transgenic soybean, 5,510 individuals in Willams 82, and 6,957 individuals in Seoritae were collected, respectively. There was no difference between the population densities of insect pests, natural enemies and other insects on Vitamin E enhanced transgenic soybean and Willams 82, while natural enemies density on Seoritae was higher than on Vitamin E enhanced transgenic soybean, but insect pests density on Vitamin E enhanced transgenic soybean was higher. These results provided the insects diversity for risk assessment survey of Vitamin E enhanced transgenic soybean and suggested that the guideline could be useful to detect LMO crops.