Notes

Genetically modified crops offer advantages to weeds

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

Credit Xiao Yang
A well-known method of the genetic modification of plants to make them herbicide resistant has been proven to provide advantages to weedy varieties rice even when herbicide isn't in use. This suggests that such genetic modification may also have potential to have an impact on wild animals.

A variety of plants are created genetically to be resistant to glyphosate. This herbicide, first called Roundup it was released on the market in the year 1996 under the tradename Roundup. This makes it possible for farmers to remove the majority of weeds from their fields without harming their crops.

Glyphosate inhibits plant growth through blocking an enzyme, known as EPSP synthase, which is responsible for the production of specific amino acids as well as other molecules that comprise as much as 35% of a plant's mass. Genetic modification, like the Roundup Ready crops manufactured by Monsanto in St. Louis, Missouri, involves inserting genes to a crop's genetic code to boost EPSP production. The genes are typically derived from bacteria that have been infected by plants.

The plant can endure the negative effects of glyphosate due to its additional EPSP-synthase. Biotechnology labs have also attempted to use plants' genes to increase the EPSP synthase enzyme, in part to exploit an American loophole that allows for regulatory approval of transgenes not derived bacterial pests.

A few studies have explored the possibility that transgenes similar to those that confer resistance to glyphosate help plants compete in reproductive success and longevity once they are introduced to weedy or wild relatives by cross-pollination. Norman Ellstrand of the University of California, Riverside, stated that the conventional expectation was that any transgene could be detrimental to nature if there is no selection pressure. This is because any extra machines would reduce the effectiveness of.

ラウンドアップ Lu Baorong is an Ecologist at Fudan University Shanghai. His study shows that resistance to glyphosate provides a significant fitness benefit, even if it's not used.

Lu and colleagues altered cultivars of rice to improve the production of EPSP synthase. ラウンドアップ The modified rice was crossed with a wild-type relative.

The group then let the offspring of crossbreeding to cross-breed to produce second-generation hybrids. ラウンドアップ al3 ラウンドアップ They were genetically identical with the exception of the amount of EPSP synthase genes they carried. The researchers found that the hybrids that had more than one copy of the gene encoding EPSP synthase expressed more enzyme and produced more tryptophan, as expected.

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

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

https://www.e-welcia.com/products/detail.php?product_id=138130 Brian Ford-Lloyd, an UK plant geneticist who states, "If the EPSP synthase gene gets in the wild rice species their genetic diversity could be endangered, which is crucial because the genotype that has transgene is superior to the natural species." "This is one the most evident instances of the highly probable negative effects [of GM crops] upon the environment."

The public believes that genetically modified plants that have more than one copy of their genes than microorganisms are safe. This is however questioned by the study. Lu states, "Our study shows this is not necessarily true."

Researchers believe this finding calls for rethinking the future regulation on genetically modified crops. Ellstrand says that some people think that biosafety rules can be relaxed since we have over two decades of genetic engineering. https://shop.sunday.co.jp/c-3/c-35/c-4500/228935/ "But the research shows that novel products still need careful assessment."


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