Notes

Genetically modified plants are more advantageous than herbicides

Herbicide resistance could confer an advantage on plants in the wild.

Credit to Xiao Yang
A method of genetic modification used extensively to produce crops that are herbicide-resistant has been shown to give advantages to a weedy form of rice, even in the absence of herbicide. This suggests that such genetic modification may also have potential to impact wild animals.

A range of crops have been genetically modified to make them resistant to Roundup herbicide glyphosate. Farmers are able to eliminate weeds from their fields with this glyphosate resistance without causing damage to their crops.

Glyphosate inhibits an enzyme known as EPSP synthase, which is responsible for the production of specific amino acids as well as various other molecules. ラウンドアップ It also can hinder the growth of plants. Genetic modification -- utilized, for instance, in the Roundup Ready crops made by the biotechnology giant Monsanto, based in St Louis, Missouri -usually involves inserting genes into a plant's genome to boost EPSP-synthase production. The genes are typically derived from bacteria infected with plants.

ラウンドアップ The plant is able to resist the adverse effects of glyphosate since it has an extra EPSP-synthase. Biotechnology labs also have tried to use plants' genes instead of bacteria to increase EPSP-synthase levels and, in turn, to take advantage of a loophole in US law that allows the approval of regulatory agencies for organisms that carry transgenes that aren't derived from bacterial pests.

There aren't many studies that have examined the possibility that transgenes that confer glyphosate tolerance could -- after they become weedy or wild relatives via cross-pollinating -enhance the plant's longevity and reproductive. Norman Ellstrand of University of California Riverside declares, "The conventional expectation is that any transgene found in the wild could cause disadvantages if there is no selection pressure because the added machinery can lower the fitness."

Lu Baorong (an ecologist at Fudan University, Shanghai) has now questioned that opinion. It has shown that resistance to glyphosate provides significant benefits to fitness for the weedy rice crop known as Oryza Sativa even when it is not being used.

Lu and his colleagues modified cultivars of rice to make more EPSP synthase. They also crossed the modified rice with a weedy related. Their work was published in NewPhytologist 1.

The team then allowed offspring cross-bred to breed with one-another, creating second generation hybrids which were genetically identical to their parents, except for how many copies of the gene that encodes EPSP synthase. ラウンドアップ ラウンドアップ ハイロード ラウンドアップ Likely, the ones with more copies expressed greater levels of the enzyme and also produced more amino acids tryptophan than their non-modified counterparts.

Researchers also found that transgenics had higher rates, more flowers, and 48-125percent more seeds/plant than nontransgenics.

ラウンドアップ 古い Lu believes that making rice that is weedy more competitive could cause more problems for farmers across the world whose fields are being infested by the pest.

Brian Ford Lloyd, a UK plant scientist, stated that the EPSP Synthase gene could get into wild rice species. This would erode their genetic diversity, which is crucial. This is one of the most evident examples of likely negative effects of GM crop] on the environment."

This study also challenges the idea that genetically modified crops containing more copies of their genes are more safe than those that contain microorganisms' genes. Lu says that the study "shows that this isn't always the case".

Researchers say this discovery requires rethinking the future regulation on the use of genetically modified plants. "Some people are now suggesting that biosafety regulations can be eased because we've reached a high level of comfort in the last two years of genetic engineering" says Ellstrand. "But the study still suggests that new products need careful evaluation."


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