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Multitrophic interactions involving genetically modified potatoes, nontarget aphids, natural enemies and hyperparasitoids.

Genetically modified (GM) potatoes expressing a cysteine proteinase inhibitor (cystatin) have been developed as an option for the management of plant parasitic nematodes. The relative impact of such plants on predators and parasitoids (natural enemies) of nontarget insects was determined in a field trial. The trial consisted of GM plants, control plants grown in soil treated with a nematicide and untreated control plants. The quantity of nontarget aphids and their quality as hosts for natural enemies were studied. Aphid density was significantly reduced by nematicide treatment and few natural enemies were recorded from treated potatoes during the study. In contrast, similar numbers of aphids and their more abundant predators were recorded from the untreated control and the GM potatoes. The size of aphids on GM and control plants was recorded twice during the study. During the first sampling period (2-9 July) aphids clip-caged on GM plants were smaller than those on control plants. During the second sampling period (23-30 July) there was no difference in aphid size between those from the GM and control plants. Host size is an important component of host quality. It can affect the size and fecundity of parasitoid females and the sex ratio of their offspring. However, neither the fitness of females of Aphidius ervi, the most prevalent primary parasitoid, nor the sex ratio of their progeny, were affected when the parasitoids developed on aphids feeding on GM plants. Two guilds of secondary parasitoid were also recorded during the study. The fitness of the most abundant species, Aspahes vulgaris, was not affected when it developed on hosts from GM plants. The transgene product, OC I Delta D86, was not detected in aphids that had fed on GM plants in the field, suggesting that there is minimal secondary exposure of natural enemies to the inhibitor. The results indicate that transgenic nematode resistance is potentially more compatible with aphid biological control than is current nematicide use.

Aldicarb↗

Genetically modified crops: methodology, benefits, regulation and public concerns.

The genetic modification of crop plants from the methodology involved in their production through to the current debate on their use in agriculture are reviewed. Techniques for plant transformation by Agrobacterium tumefaciens and particle bombardment, and for the selection of transgenic plants using marker genes are described. The benefits of currently available genetically modified (GM) crops in reducing waste and agrochemical use in agriculture, and the potential of the technology for further crop improvement in the future are discussed. The legal requirements for containment of novel GM crops and the roles of relevant regulatory bodies in ensuring that GM crops and food are safe are summarized. Some of the major concerns of the general public regarding GM crops and food: segregation of GM and non-GM crops and cross-pollination between GM crops and wild species, the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes, the prevention of new allergens being introduced in to the food chain and the relative safety of GM and non-GM foods are considered. Finally, the current debate on the use of GM crops in agriculture and the need for the government, scientists and industry to persevere with the technology in the face of widespread hostility is studied.

Consumer Product Safety↗

Processing of transgenic corn seed and its effect on the recovery of recombinant beta-glucuronidase.

The tools of plant biotechnology that have been developed to improve agronomic traits are now being applied to generate recombinant protein products for the food, feed, and pharmaceutical industry. This study addresses several processing and protein recovery issues that are relevant to utilizing transgenic corn as a protein production system. The gus gene coding for beta-glucuronidase (rGUS) was stably integrated and expressed over four generations. The accumulation level of rGUS reached 0.4% of total extractable protein. Within the kernel, rGUS was preferentially accumulated in the germ even though a constitutive ubiquitin promoter was used to direct gus expression. Fourth-generation transgenic seed was used to investigate the effect of seed processing on the activity and the recovery of rGUS. Transgenic seed containing rGUS could be stored at an ambient temperature for up to two weeks and for at least three months at 10 degrees C without a significant loss of enzyme activity. rGUS exposed to dry heat was more stable in ground than in whole kernels. The enzyme stability was correlated with the moisture loss of the samples during the heating. Transgenic seed was dry-milled, fractionated, and hexane extracted to produce full-fat and defatted germ fractions. The results of the aqueous extraction of rGUS from ground kernels, full-fat germ, and defatted-germ samples revealed that approximately 10 times more rGUS per gram of solids could be extracted from the ground full-fat germ and defatted-germ than from the kernel samples. The extraction of corn oil from ground germ with hot hexane (60 degrees C) did not affect the extractable rGUS activity. rGUS was purified from ground kernels and full-fat germ extracts by ion exchange, hydrophobic interaction, and size exclusion chromatography. Similar purity and yield of rGUS were obtained from both extracts. Biochemical properties of rGUS purified from transgenic corn seed were similar to those of E. coli GUS.

Animal Feed↗

Will transgenic plants adversely affect the environment?

Transgenic insecticidal plants based on Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) endotoxins, on proteinase inhibitors and on lectins, and transgenic herbicide tolerant plants are widely used in modern agriculture. The results of the studies on likelihood and non-likelihood of adverse effects of transgenic plants on the environment including: (i) effects on nontarget species; (ii) invasiveness; (iii) potential for transgenes to 'escape' into the environment by horizontal gene transfer; and (iv) adverse effects on soil biota are reviewed. In general, it seems that large-scale implementation of transgenic insecticidal and herbicide tolerant plants do not display considerable negative effects on the environments and, moreover, at least some transgenic plants can improve the corresponding environments and human health because their production considerably reduces the load of chemical insecticides and herbicides.

Animals↗

The long and winding road from the research laboratory to industrial applications of lactic acid bacteria.

Research innovations are constantly occurring in universities, research institutions and industrial research laboratories. These are reported in the scientific literature and presented to the scientific community in various congresses and symposia as well as through direct contacts and collaborations. Conversion of these research results to industrially useful innovations is, however, considerably more complex than generally appreciated. The long and winding road from the research laboratory to industrial applications will be illustrated with two recent examples from Chr. Hansen A/S: the implementation in industrial scale of a new production technology based on respiration by Lactococcus lactis and the introduction to the market of L. lactis strains constructed using recombinant DNA technology.

Biotechnology↗

Iron content and bioavailability in rice.

Iron deficiency is probably the most widespread micronutrient deficiency in humans. Since rice is the main staple food for more than half of the global population, improving the iron content and bioavailability in rice is a perspective and an effective way to alleviate or even solve this problem. The present paper evaluates the iron content in different cereal foods (black rice, rice, red rice, sticky rice and millet) and different rice seeds as well as in the milling products, and the iron bioavailability of different forms. The data show that the iron content in black rice is higher than in the other rice types, and in rice chaff and husk the content is still fairly high. However, the iron content in rice and fine rice, which are the people's main staple food, is fairly low. As to the bioavailability of iron, it is fairly low in vegetable foods, almost at the level of 10%. Several methods have been applied to improve iron content and bioavailability in rice seed. Apart from breeding and genetic engineering, biochemical and physical approaches have frequently been used as prospective methods to regulate iron content and bioavailability in rice grains.

6-Phytase↗

GMO roundup.

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Bacillus thuringiensis↗

Plant biochemistry: a naturally decaffeinated arabica coffee.

The adverse side effects of caffeine have increased the market for decaffeinated coffee to about 10% of coffee consumption worldwide (http://www.ncausa.org), despite the loss of key flavour compounds in the industrial decaffeinating process. We have discovered a naturally decaffeinated Coffea arabica plant from Ethiopia, a species normally recognized for the high quality of its beans. It should be possible to transfer this trait to commercial varieties of arabica coffee plants by intraspecific hybridization--a process likely to be simpler than an interspecific hybridization strategy, which could require more than 30 years of breeding to fix the decaffeinated trait and would probably result in an inferior cup of coffee.

Breeding↗

Genetic ID.

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Biotechnology↗