Abstract Detail

Recent Topics Posters

Leverich, Wesley J. [1], Bashir, Anbreen [1].

Gene Flow Between GM Rice and Oryza rufipogon: Hybrid Fitness.

Advances in biotechnology are providing opportunities to develop crop varieties with pest or herbicide resistance, varieties with nutritional improvement, or even the capacity for plant produced pharmaceuticals, biochemicals and vaccines. But there remain concerns about the safety of biotechnologically modified crops regarding effects on human health on one hand and their unintended effects on the environment on the other. The present study is specifically concerned with assessing the potential effects of gene flow between genetically modified crops and their wild relatives on biodiversity of native plants. As part of a broader study to measure and assess the effects of possible gene flow between cultivated rice and its wild progenitor (Oryza rufipogon), we are estimating the relative fitnesses of genetically modified rice cultivars, the wild ancestor of cultivated rice, O. rufipogon, and their F1 hybrids. Unless F1 fitness is significantly reduced, there is risk that persistent F1 plants could provide a path for transgenes to enter wild populations via introgression. The GM rice lines in this study contain a LEA (late embryogenesis abundant) protein, HVA1 with a strong constitutive promoter, rice act 1(Actin 1). Transgenic rice was obtained from David Ho's lab. In the greenhouse, these GM plants were crossed with O. rufipogon, and F1 seeds were harvested. For the present greenhouse study, seeds were planted of the GM parents, the O. rufipogon parents, and their F1 hybrids. The following estimators of fitness have been or will be collected: percent emergence, day of emergence, number of leaves, number of tillers, day of first flowering, number of panicles, reproductive biomass, and total plant biomass. Preliminary results indicate that F1 fitness may not be reduced significantly relative to O. rufipogon or cultivated rice.

1 - Saint Louis University, Department of Biology, 3507 Laclede Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, 63103, USA

Keywords:
gene flow
hybrid fitness.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 32-157
Location: Special Event Center (Cliff Lodge)
Date: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2004
Time: 12:30 PM
Abstract ID:1130