Notes

Genetically modified crops have more advantages than weeds

In nature, herbicide resistance may confer advantages on plants.

ラウンドアップ Credit Xiao Yang
A common method of genetic modification employed to make crops resistant to herbicides was shown to have advantages over rice varieties that are weedy. These results suggest that such modifications can have a broad variety of impacts that extend beyond farms, and possibly in the wild.

There are many kinds of plants have been genetically altered to be resistive to glyphosate. Roundup was the first herbicide to be marketed. Farmers can eradicate most the weeds that grow in their fields by using this glyphosate resistance without damaging their crops.

Glyphosate acts as an inhibitor of plant growth. It inhibits an enzyme called EPSP synthase. ラウンドアップ This enzyme is responsible in the creation of specific amino acids as well as other molecules. These compounds can make up as much as 35% of a plant's mass. The genetic-modification technique is used in, for instance, Roundup Ready plants made by Monsanto Biotechnology Inc., a biotech firm that is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri. It involves inserting genes into the genome of a crop to boost EPSP synthase synthase synthase production. The genes are typically derived from bacteria that are infected with plants.

The plant is able to resist the effects of glyphosate because of the addition of EPSP synthase. Biotechnology labs have also tried to make EPSP-synthase more plant-based than bacteria by utilizing genes from plants. This was made to make use of the loophole in US law that allows regulatory approval for organisms that are not derived from bacterial parasites.

A few studies have explored whether transgenes that confer glyphosate resistant can help plants compete in reproductive success and longevity once they're introduced to weedy or wild relatives through cross-pollination. Norman Ellstrand of University of California Riverside says, "The conventional expectation is that any type of transgene found in the wild could be detrimental if there's no selection pressure , because the added machinery can reduce the fitness."

Lu Baorong (an ecologist at Fudan University, Shanghai) has now challenged that view. It has proven that resistance to glyphosate can provide significant benefits to fitness for the weedy rice crop, called Oryza Sativa even when it is not in use.

ラウンドアップ https://www.komeri.com/search/%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%82%A2%E3%83%83%E3%83%97/?dispNo=&codeSearch=0&searchFirst=1 Lu and colleagues modified cultivars of rice to improve its EPSP synthase. The modified rice was then crossed with a wild-type relative.

The group then allowed hybrid offspring of crossbreds to reproduce with each other, resulting in second-generation hybrids genetically identical to one another with the exception of the amount of copies of the gene that encodes EPSP synthase. Likely, the ones with more copies expressed greater levels of the enzyme and also produced more amino acids tryptophan than their non-modified counterparts.

ラウンドアップ Researchers also found that transgenic hybrids grew between 48 to 125 percent more seeds per plant, and had greater rates of photosynthesis and more shoots than those that were not transgenic.

Lu believes that making the rice weedy less competitive might make it harder for farmers who have their plots infested by pests.

ラウンドアップ Brian Ford-Lloyd (a UK plant geneticist) says that if the EPSP-synthase gene is introduced into wild rice species, their genetic diversity, which is essential to protect could be at risk. The transgene will be more competitive than natural species. This is among the most clear examples of plausible negative effects [of GM crop] on the environment."

The general public believes that genetically engineered crops with extra copies or microorganisms genes are safer than ones that only contain the genes of their owners. Lu states that "our study does not prove this to be the case."

Researchers believe this discovery calls for a review of the regulations for the future on genetically modified crops. "Some people are now saying that biosafety regulation can be relaxed because we have an extremely high level of satisfaction in the last two decades of genetic engineering," says Ellstrand. ラウンドアップ グリホサート "But the study demonstrates that new products require an unbiased evaluation."


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