Notes

Genetically modified crops pass benefits to weeds

Herbicide resistance might provide advantages to plants in the wild.

Credit: Xiao Yang
A technique of genetic modification widely used to make crops herbicide resistant has been proven to provide advantages to an invasive form of rice, even in absence of herbicide. This suggests that this genetic modifications could also have the potential to impact wild animals.

A wide range of crops have been modified genetically so that they are resistant to Roundup herbicide glyphosate. This glyphosate-resistant crop allows farmers to eliminate the majority of weeds from the fields without harming their crops.

Glyphosate inhibits plant growth by blocking an enzyme known as EPSP synthase. This enzyme is responsible for the production of specific amino acids as well as other molecules that account for as much as 35% of a plant's mass. The genetic modification technique, which is used by Monsanto's Roundup Ready crops, which are based in St Louis (Missouri), typically involves inserting genes into a crop's DNA to increase EPSP synthase production. The genes are usually derived from bacteria that cause disease in the plants.

The extra EPSP synase makes it possible for plants to resist the harmful effects of glyphosate. Biotechnology labs attempted to utilize plants' genes to increase EPSP synthase activity. This was partially to take advantage of a loophole in US law that permits regulatory approval of transgenes contained in organisms that are not derived from bacteria pests.

There aren't many studies that have looked into the possibility that transgenes similar to those that confer glyphosate resistant can make plants more competitive in reproductive success and longevity once they're introduced to weedy or wild relatives by cross-pollination. Norman Ellstrand of the University of California, Riverside, explained that the standard assumption was that any transgene will be detrimental to nature if there was no selection pressure. This is because extra machines would reduce the effectiveness of.

Lu Baorong from Fudan University in Shanghai is in the process of challenging this notion. The study demonstrates that resistance to glyphosate even when not applied to an weedy varieties of the rice crop could provide a substantial health benefit.

Their research was published in 1. Lu and his colleagues altered the genetics of cultivated rice to increase its EPSP synthase expression and crossed it with a weedy counterpart.

The team then allowed offspring to crossbreed with one another, creating second-generation hybrids that are genetically similar to their parents except for how many copies of the gene that encodes EPSP synthase. Like one might expect, the higher number of copies resulted in higher levels of enzyme and more tryptophan than their counterparts that were not modified.

Researchers also found that transgenic hybrids produced between 48 to 125 percent more seeds per plant, and had greater rates of photosynthesis and more shoots than the non-transgenic varieties.

Lu believes that making weedy Rice more competitive might cause more problems for the farmers around the world whose fields are being ravaged by the pest.

Brian Ford-Lloyd is an UK plant geneticist who states, "If the EPSP synthase gene becomes present in wild rice species their genetic diversity could be endangered, which is crucial because the genotype that has transgene outcompetes the normal species." " ラウンドアップ is among the most evident instances of the highly probable negative effects (of GM crops] on the environment."

The public has a perception that genetically engineered crops with extra copies or microorganisms genes are more secure than those with only their own genes. "Our study shows that this is not necessarily the case," Lu says. Lu.

According to some researchers, the finding suggests that the future regulation of genetically engineered crops should be rethought. "Some people are now saying that biosafety regulations can be relaxed because we have a high level of comfort in the last two years of genetic engineering" says Ellstrand. The study found that any new products need to be evaluated carefully.


My Website: https://www.asian-tapas.com/auto-draft-22/