{"title":"Survival and flowering of hybrids between cultivated and wild carrots (Daucus carota) in Danish grasslands.","authors":"Thure P Hauser, Sang In Shim","doi":"10.1051/ebr:2007044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/ebr:2007044","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many crop species are able to hybridize with related weedy or wild relatives, which could lead to transfer of cultivar genes, and among them transgenes, into wild populations. It is not clear, however, whether the hybrids and their descendants are able to survive and reproduce in natural habitats, as inherited cultivar traits may be maladaptive under such conditions. To test this, we produced hybrid (F(1)) seeds by controlled crosses between wild [see text for formula] and cultivated carrots (Daucus carota ssp. carota and ssp. sativa, respectively) and sowed them into three Danish grasslands of different age, in parallel with seeds of wild carrots. Replicate plots were sown in fall and spring. Survival and flowering of the emerging plants were monitored for the following three years. Both hybrid and wild carrots survived and flowered in highest frequency at a recently disturbed site, and much less at two older sites. Hybrids emerged in higher proportions than wild carrots in the first year and survived to similar or slightly lower frequencies at the end of the experiment. Hybrids flowered as frequently or slightly less frequently than wild plants, and developed fewer and smaller umbels. Despite a somewhat lower reproductive potential compared to wild carrots, first generation hybrids between cultivated and wild carrots are likely to survive and produce offspring in natural grasslands in Denmark. This, together with other studies, suggests that cultivar genes may transfer relatively easily into wild carrot populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":87177,"journal":{"name":"Environmental biosafety research","volume":"6 4","pages":"237-47"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27276742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Julie Squires, Jennifer Stephens, James E Shoelz, Peter Palukaitis
{"title":"Assessment of CaMV-mediated gene silencing and integration of CaMV into GM plants with a 35S RNA promoter.","authors":"Julie Squires, Jennifer Stephens, James E Shoelz, Peter Palukaitis","doi":"10.1051/ebr:2007043","DOIUrl":"10.1051/ebr:2007043","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Four GM plant species (Arabidopsis thaliana, Brassica napus, Nicotiana benthamiana and N. tabacum), each expressing the gene encoding the jellyfish green fluorescent protein (GFP) regulated by the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S RNA promoter, were assessed for the extent of transgene silencing and viral genome integration following infection by CaMV. The first three species are systemic hosts of CaMV, while N. tabacum is only a local host for a few strains of CaMV. A generalized systemic silencing of the GFP transgene was not observed in a total of 100 plants of each species infected with CaMV, although some localized loss of GFP was observed in CaMV-infected N. benthamiana leaves, and some loss of fluorescence was observed in older leaves of uninfected as well as infected plants. Progeny seedlings obtained from the above infected plants also did not exhibit transgene silencing showing that virus infection did not affect the stability of the transgene. These progeny plants also did not show signs of virus infection, indicating that the presence of the CaMV 35S RNA promoter sequences in the plant genome did not potentiate seed transmission of the virus. Integration of infective CaMV into the CaMV 35S RNA promoter could not be detected in 944 samples taken from leaves of the above infected plant species or in 2912 samples taken from progeny seedlings. Based on a detection limit of one copy per 4000 haploid genomes, we conclude that if integration of virus does occur into the CaMV 35S RNA promoter, then it occurs at such a low frequency as to be insignificant.</p>","PeriodicalId":87177,"journal":{"name":"Environmental biosafety research","volume":"6 4","pages":"259-70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1051/ebr:2007043","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27277741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Possible roles of endogenous plant viral sequences and transgenes containing viral sequences in both virus resistance and virus emergence.","authors":"Pierre-Yves Teycheney, Mark Tepper","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":87177,"journal":{"name":"Environmental biosafety research","volume":"6 4","pages":"219-21"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27380621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Viviana Corich, Alessio Giacomini, Elena Vendramin, Patrizia Vian, Milena Carlot, Giuseppe Concheri, Elisa Polone, Sergio Casella, Marco P Nuti, Andrea Squartini
{"title":"Long term evaluation of field-released genetically modified rhizobia.","authors":"Viviana Corich, Alessio Giacomini, Elena Vendramin, Patrizia Vian, Milena Carlot, Giuseppe Concheri, Elisa Polone, Sergio Casella, Marco P Nuti, Andrea Squartini","doi":"10.1051/ebr:2007006","DOIUrl":"10.1051/ebr:2007006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This is the report of the first open field release of genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs) in Italy. It covers ten years of monitoring, and follows in-field GMM dynamics from strain release to disappearance below detection limits, as well as assessment of impact on resident microorganisms. The bacteria released belong to the nitrogen fixing legume endosymbiont Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae, and were engineered with non-agronomically-proficient traits, in order to assess their behavior and fate without GMM-specific positive feedback from the plant. A DNA cassette containing mercury resistance and ss-galactosidase genes was introduced in either plasmid-borne or chromosomally integrated versions, in order to test the resulting strain stability. A synthetic promoter was used to drive the lacZ gene, conferring high catabolic activity to the GMM. Two different wild-type Rhizobium backgrounds were tested, comparing a non-indigenous vs. an indigenous, highly competitive strain. The latter had much greater persistence, since it was able to survive and establish at technically detectable levels for over four years after release. Selection factors, such as reiterated presence of the plant host, or lactose substrate supply, enhanced long-term survival to different extents. The lactose treatment showed that even a single trophic supplementation can surpass the benefits of symbiotic interaction for a period of several years. Concerning impact, the GMMs did not alter substantially the other soil community general microbiota. However, there were some significant differences in microbiota as a consequence of the Rhizobium inoculation. This effect was observed with either the WT or GMM, and was more evident in the release of the indigenous Rhizobium. Moreover, as the indigenous GMM had its parental, dominant wild-type in the same soil, it was possible to evaluate to what extent the GMM version could result in parent displacement (\"self-impact\"), and how much the two rhizobia would additively contribute to nodulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":87177,"journal":{"name":"Environmental biosafety research","volume":"6 3","pages":"167-81"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41031288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christof Dietrich, Jane Miller, Gaynor McKenzie, László Palkovics, Ervin Balázs, Peter Palukaitis, Edgar Maiss
{"title":"No recombination detected in artificial potyvirus mixed infections and between potyvirus derived transgenes and heterologous challenging potyviruses.","authors":"Christof Dietrich, Jane Miller, Gaynor McKenzie, László Palkovics, Ervin Balázs, Peter Palukaitis, Edgar Maiss","doi":"10.1051/ebr:2007042","DOIUrl":"10.1051/ebr:2007042","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Risk-assessment studies of virus-resistant transgenic plants (VRTPs) focussing on recombination of a plant virus with a transgenic sequence of a different virus should include a comparison of recombination frequencies between viruses in double-infected non-transgenic plants with those observed in singly infected transgenic plants to estimate recombination incidence in VRTPs. In this study, the occurrence of recombination events was investigated in non-transgenic plants double-infected with two different potyviruses, as well as in potyviral genomes in singly infected transgenic plants expressing potyvirus sequences. Different potyviruses, namely Potato virus A (PVA), Tobacco vein mottling virus (TVMV), two strains of Potato virus Y (PVY-O, PVY-H) and two strains of Plum pox virus (PPV-NAT, PPV-SK68), were used in three combinations for double infection of a common host. Furthermore, transgenic plants expressing either potyviral coat protein (CP), helicase (CI) or polymerase (NIb) coding sequences (PPV-NAT-CP, PVY-CI, PVY-NIb) were singly-infected with a heterologous potyvirus, which was not targeted by the respective transgenic resistance. To identify recombinant potyviral sequences, a sensitive RT-PCR was developed to detect up to one recombinant molecule out of 10(6) parental molecules. In 304 mixed infected non-transgenic plants, 92 mixed and 164 single infected transgenic plants screened for recombinant sequences no recombinant potyviral sequence was found. These results indicate that recombination events between different potyviruses in mixed infections and between a potyvirus infecting a potyvirus-resistant transgenic plant are likely to be very infrequent.</p>","PeriodicalId":87177,"journal":{"name":"Environmental biosafety research","volume":"6 3","pages":"207-18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41032323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How well is Environmental Biosafety Research supporting the scientific debate on the biosafety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?","authors":"Wendy Craig, Remigiusz Lewandowski, Giuliano Degrassi, Decio Ripandelli","doi":"10.1051/ebr:2007040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/ebr:2007040","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>One of the most direct routes to informing scientific debates is through the timely publication of relevant research results. By making a comparison of the number and type of articles published by Environmental Biosafety Research (EBR) with those from other journals active in the arena of GMO biosafety, it is possible to shed light on the answer to the question posed in the title. To do this, we have used a unique open access online tool, the Biosafety Bibliographic Database (BBD) that has been provided by ICGEB since 1990. As of June 2007, the BBD contained 6694 records pertaining to scientific publications (full references and abstracts), and appearing in international and national scientific periodicals and books. Based on the records in the BBD, biosafety research activity over the past 16-17 years can be summarized by analyzing basic statistics. The BBD should prove to be a useful starting point for diverse bibliometric studies of publications in this area.</p>","PeriodicalId":87177,"journal":{"name":"Environmental biosafety research","volume":"6 3","pages":"161-5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41031287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Maureen O'Callaghan, Michael Brownbridge, Wendy B Stilwell, Emily M Gerard, Elisabeth P J Burgess, Emma I Barraclough, John T Christeller
{"title":"Effects of tobacco genetically modified to express protease inhibitor bovine spleen trypsin inhibitor on non-target soil organisms.","authors":"Maureen O'Callaghan, Michael Brownbridge, Wendy B Stilwell, Emily M Gerard, Elisabeth P J Burgess, Emma I Barraclough, John T Christeller","doi":"10.1051/ebr:2007041","DOIUrl":"10.1051/ebr:2007041","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Effects of tobacco genetically modified to express the protease inhibitor bovine spleen trypsin inhibitor (BSTI) were examined in laboratory assays against three earthworm and one collembolan species. BSTI is a serine protease inhibitor that can bind to the digestive trypsins of insects feeding on modified plants, resulting in reduced growth and survival. Protease inhibitors are active against a broad range of insects, so may have a large impact on non-target organisms. Survival and fecundity of the collembolan Folsomia candida were unaffected by consumption of artificial diet containing BSTI-expressing tobacco leaf or powdered freeze-dried BSTI-expressing tobacco leaf that was added to soil. Similarly, mortality and growth of earthworms Aporrectodea caliginosa and Lumbricus rubellus did not differ significantly between soil augmented with BSTI-expressing tobacco leaves or unmodified control leaves. The redworm Eisenia fetida gained less weight when provided with BSTI-expressing leaves in one assay, but when the experiment was repeated, there was no significant difference between treatments. BSTI-expressing tobacco and unmodified control leaves decomposed at the same rate, indicating that the inhibitor had no effect on the overall function of the decomposer community of micro-flora and fauna in soil.</p>","PeriodicalId":87177,"journal":{"name":"Environmental biosafety research","volume":"6 3","pages":"183-95"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41031289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Henri Darmency, Yves Vigouroux, Thierry Gestat De Garambé, Marc Richard-Molard, Claude Muchembled
{"title":"Transgene escape in sugar beet production fields: data from six years farm scale monitoring.","authors":"Henri Darmency, Yves Vigouroux, Thierry Gestat De Garambé, Marc Richard-Molard, Claude Muchembled","doi":"10.1051/ebr:2007007","DOIUrl":"10.1051/ebr:2007007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Concerns have been raised in Europe about the efficiency, sustainability, and environmental impact of the first genetically modified crops. The committees and regulators in charge of approving procedures have encouraged a field trial approach for safety assessment studies under current agronomic conditions. We describe the gene flow from sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) in a multi-year and multi-crop monitoring study on farmers' fields at two locations that has been carried out since 1995. We analyzed two sugar beet lines that have been genetically transformed for herbicide resistance. One sugar beet has resistance to glufosinate and the other to glyphosate. Large differences among lines, years and locations were observed. These differences provided a broad range of situations to estimate the risks. Sugar beet bolters produced the majority (86%) of the herbicide-resistant seeds harvested in the field. Direct pollen flow from sugar beet bolters to weed beets that were growing within the same field as well as in a neighboring field that was left fallow accounted for only 0.4% of the resistant seeds released over the years and locations. Descendants of the hybrids between the sugar beet and the weed beet produced the remaining 13.6% of resistant seeds. Herbicide-resistant seeds from the progeny of the weed beet were recorded up to 112 m away from the closest transgenic pollen donor. Indications were observed of non-randomness of the weed beet producing resistant progeny. We also analyzed pollen flow to male-sterile bait plants located within and outside of the sugar beet field. Herbicide-resistant pollen flow was recorded up to 277 m, and fitted with an inverse power regression. Using sugar beet varieties with no, or very low, sensitivity to bolting and destroying bolters are two necessary measures that could delay gene flow.</p>","PeriodicalId":87177,"journal":{"name":"Environmental biosafety research","volume":"6 3","pages":"197-206"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41031291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fate of transgenic plant DNA in the environment.","authors":"Alessandra Pontiroli, Pascal Simonet, Asa Frostegard, Timothy M Vogel, Jean-Michel Monier","doi":"10.1051/ebr:2007037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/ebr:2007037","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This review addresses the possible ecological effects of transgenic plants on micro-organisms in the field, hence, in the phytosphere and in the soil matrix. The important steps involved in the interaction between plant DNA and bacteria and the factors that influence the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) process will be discussed. HGT is a process in which two partners are involved, even if indirectly. In the first section, aspects concerning bacteria, such as their physico-chemical, biological and genetic characteristics, are described. Parameters affecting transgenic DNA fate in the environment are described in the second section. Subsequently, terrestrial habitats are evaluated in terms of their capacity to favor horizontal gene transfer. Finally, we focused on several studies in order to evaluate possible perturbations of soil bacterial community composition due to cultivation of transgenic plants in the field.</p>","PeriodicalId":87177,"journal":{"name":"Environmental biosafety research","volume":"6 1-2","pages":"15-35"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1051/ebr:2007037","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27069511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Screening of rhizosphere and soil bacteria for transformability.","authors":"Babette Richter, Kornelia Smalla","doi":"10.1051/ebr:2007035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1051/ebr:2007035","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Natural transformation is assumed to be the most likely mechanism by which DNA from transgenic plants could be horizontally transferred to bacteria. In order to determine the occurrence of naturally transformable bacteria amongst bulk and rhizosphere soil bacteria, different transformation strategies were employed using either plasmid DNA (IncQ plasmids pSM1890 and pSM1885, conferring GFP, Sm(r), Gm(r) and GFP, Sm(r), Tc(r), respectively) or genomic DNA from rhizosphere isolates, which were chromosomally tagged with mini-Tn5 (GFP, Tc(r)), as transforming DNA. Transformation assays were done in microtiter plates (262 isolates and pSM1890 or pSM1885), on filters (i) with rhizosphere bacterial community mixed with pSM1890 or pSM1885, (ii) with 24 rhizosphere or soil bacterial isolates mixed with genomic DNA of the corresponding mini-Tn5-tagged strains, and in the rhizosphere of tobacco plants inoculated with rifampicin-resistant bacterial isolates and genomic DNA of the corresponding mini-Tn5-tagged strains added. One transformant colony was obtained when Brevundimonas vesicularis was transformed with genomic DNA of the corresponding mini-Tn5-tagged strain. Attempts to reproduce this result were unsuccessful. With this single exception, transformants were neither detected in the collection of isolates nor in the rhizosphere bacterial community. Acinetobacter baylyi BD413 used as a positive control showed drastically reduced transformation frequencies with plasmid pSM1890 as transforming DNA when mixed with the rhizosphere pellet. All transformants were characterized by BOX-PCR fingerprints, and three different BOX patterns were revealed. Sequencing the 16S rRNA gene showed that all transformants could be assigned to Acinetobacter sp. Since transformants were only observed in the positive control, the introduced BD413 either underwent genomic rearrangements, or competence of the Acinetobacter population present in the rhizosphere was stimulated by the introduction of BD413. The various transformation assays performed indicate that the proportion of rhizosphere or bulk soil bacteria which are naturally transformable is negligibly low.</p>","PeriodicalId":87177,"journal":{"name":"Environmental biosafety research","volume":"6 1-2","pages":"91-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27069514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}