Genetically modified crops offer benefits over weeds
from web site
Plants in the wild could be given herbicide resistance.
Weedy rice may take on transgenes from genetically modified rice through cross-pollination. Credit: Xiao Yang
A well-known method of genetic modification of crops to make them herbicide resistant has been proven to provide advantages to weedy varieties rice even when the herbicide is not present. The results suggest that this modification could have positive effects on wild rice varieties and crops.
ラウンドアップ Many crops are genetically altered so that they can resist the effects of glyphosate. The herbicide was initially sold under the tradename Roundup. Farmers can get rid of herbicides from their fields by using glyphosate without harming their crops due to this resistance.
ラウンドアップ ラウンドアップ Glyphosate can inhibit plant growth by inhibiting EPSP synase which is an enzyme involved in the creation of amino acids as well as other chemicals that comprise about 35% of plants' mass. The technique of genetic modification employed, for example in the Roundup Ready crops made by the biotech giant Monsanto which is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri -usually includes inserting genes into a plant's genome to increase the production of EPSP synthase. Genes usually come from bacteria that cause disease to plants.
This extra EPSP synthase enables plants to resist the effects from glyphosate. Biotechnology labs attempted to utilize plant genes to boost EPSP synthase production. This was partially to make use of a loophole that is in US law that permits regulatory approval for transgenes in organisms which have not come from pests of bacteria.
A few studies have looked into the possibility that transgenes that confer glyphosate tolerance may -- once they become weedy or wild relatives via cross-pollinating -- increase the plants' survival and reproduction. Norman Ellstrand is a University of California Riverside plant geneticist. "The hypothesis is that any transgene can cause disadvantage in the wild, in the absence of pressure to select, since it could reduce fitness," Ellstrand said.
Lu Baorong, an ecologist from Fudan University in Shanghai has rewritten that view. He has discovered that resistance to glyphosate provides a significant fitness lift to the weedy version of the popular rice crop Oryza sativa.
The study was published in 1. Lu and his coworkers altered the genetics of cultivated rice to enhance its EPSP synthase expression and crossed it with a weedy cousin.
ラウンドアップ The researchers then allowed breeding offspring that were cross-bred with one another to create second-generation hybrids. These were genetically identical, with the exception of the number and copy count of the EPSP synthase gene. As expected, those with more copies expressed higher amounts of the enzyme and produced more of the amino acid tryptophan than their non-modified counterparts.
Researchers also found that transgenic hybrids produced between 48-125% more seeds per plant. ラウンドアップ 時間 They also had greater rates of photosynthesis and more shoots than those that were not transgenic.
ラウンドアップ Lu believes that making rice that is weedy less competitive can make it harder for farmers who have their plots invaded by pests.
Brian Ford-Lloyd, Brian Ford-Lloyd is a UK plant geneticist who states, "If the EPSP synthase gene gets in the wild rice varieties, their genetic diversity would be threatened which is really crucial because the genotype that has transgene is superior to the natural species." "This is a clear illustration of the very real negative effects [of GM plants] on our surroundings."
The belief of the public that genetically modified crops containing additional copies of their genes are safer is challenged by this study. Lu claims that the research "shows that this is not always the case".
The findings call for a rethinking of future regulation of genetically modified crops, some scientists claim. Ellstrand says that "some people now believe that biosafety regulations could be relaxed because we have an incredibly comfortable relationship with genetic engineering for the past two decades." "But this study has shown that the new technologies still need to be evaluated with care."
Weedy rice may take on transgenes from genetically modified rice through cross-pollination. Credit: Xiao Yang
A well-known method of genetic modification of crops to make them herbicide resistant has been proven to provide advantages to weedy varieties rice even when the herbicide is not present. The results suggest that this modification could have positive effects on wild rice varieties and crops.
ラウンドアップ Many crops are genetically altered so that they can resist the effects of glyphosate. The herbicide was initially sold under the tradename Roundup. Farmers can get rid of herbicides from their fields by using glyphosate without harming their crops due to this resistance.
ラウンドアップ ラウンドアップ Glyphosate can inhibit plant growth by inhibiting EPSP synase which is an enzyme involved in the creation of amino acids as well as other chemicals that comprise about 35% of plants' mass. The technique of genetic modification employed, for example in the Roundup Ready crops made by the biotech giant Monsanto which is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri -usually includes inserting genes into a plant's genome to increase the production of EPSP synthase. Genes usually come from bacteria that cause disease to plants.
This extra EPSP synthase enables plants to resist the effects from glyphosate. Biotechnology labs attempted to utilize plant genes to boost EPSP synthase production. This was partially to make use of a loophole that is in US law that permits regulatory approval for transgenes in organisms which have not come from pests of bacteria.
A few studies have looked into the possibility that transgenes that confer glyphosate tolerance may -- once they become weedy or wild relatives via cross-pollinating -- increase the plants' survival and reproduction. Norman Ellstrand is a University of California Riverside plant geneticist. "The hypothesis is that any transgene can cause disadvantage in the wild, in the absence of pressure to select, since it could reduce fitness," Ellstrand said.
Lu Baorong, an ecologist from Fudan University in Shanghai has rewritten that view. He has discovered that resistance to glyphosate provides a significant fitness lift to the weedy version of the popular rice crop Oryza sativa.
The study was published in 1. Lu and his coworkers altered the genetics of cultivated rice to enhance its EPSP synthase expression and crossed it with a weedy cousin.
ラウンドアップ The researchers then allowed breeding offspring that were cross-bred with one another to create second-generation hybrids. These were genetically identical, with the exception of the number and copy count of the EPSP synthase gene. As expected, those with more copies expressed higher amounts of the enzyme and produced more of the amino acid tryptophan than their non-modified counterparts.
Researchers also found that transgenic hybrids produced between 48-125% more seeds per plant. ラウンドアップ 時間 They also had greater rates of photosynthesis and more shoots than those that were not transgenic.
ラウンドアップ Lu believes that making rice that is weedy less competitive can make it harder for farmers who have their plots invaded by pests.
Brian Ford-Lloyd, Brian Ford-Lloyd is a UK plant geneticist who states, "If the EPSP synthase gene gets in the wild rice varieties, their genetic diversity would be threatened which is really crucial because the genotype that has transgene is superior to the natural species." "This is a clear illustration of the very real negative effects [of GM plants] on our surroundings."
The belief of the public that genetically modified crops containing additional copies of their genes are safer is challenged by this study. Lu claims that the research "shows that this is not always the case".
The findings call for a rethinking of future regulation of genetically modified crops, some scientists claim. Ellstrand says that "some people now believe that biosafety regulations could be relaxed because we have an incredibly comfortable relationship with genetic engineering for the past two decades." "But this study has shown that the new technologies still need to be evaluated with care."
