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Field testing, gene flow assessment and pre-commercial studies on transgenic Solanum tuberosum spp. tuberosum (cv. Spunta) selected for PVY resistance in Argentina

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Abstract

Solanum tuberosum ssp. tuberosum (cv. Spunta) was transformed with a chimeric transgene containing the Potato virus Y (PVY) coat protein (CP) sequence. Screening for PVY resistance under greenhouse conditions yielded over 100 independent candidate lines. Successive field testing of selected lines allowed the identification of two genetically stable PVY-resistant lines, SY230 and SY233, which were further evaluated in field trials at different potato-producing regions in Argentina. In total, more than 2,000 individuals from each line were tested along a 6-year period. While no or negligible PVY infection was observed in the transgenic lines, infection rates of control plants were consistently high and reached levels of up to 70–80%. Parallel field studies were performed in virus-free environments to assess the agronomical performance of the selected lines. Tubers collected from these assays exhibited agronomical traits and biochemical compositions indistinguishable from those of the non-transformed Spunta cultivar. In addition, an interspecific out-crossing trial to determine the magnitude of possible natural gene flow between transgenic line SY233 and its wild relative Solanum chacoense was performed. This trial yielded negative results, suggesting an extremely low probability for such an event to occur.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), and Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT), Argentina.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (CONICET), Vuelta de Obligado 2490 (C1428ADN), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Fernando Bravo-Almonacid, María Eugenia Segretin, Silvia Cabral & Alejandro Mentaberry

  2. Tecnoplant S.A., Parana 3350 (1636) Olivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Valeria Rudoy, Bjorn Welin, Fabiana Stolowicz, Marcelo Criscuolo, Marcelo Foti, Maximiliano Gomez, Mariana López, Germán Serino & Cristina Dos Santos

  3. INTA Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria, Balcarce, Ruta 226 km 73,5 (7620) Balcarce, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María Cecilia Bedogni & Marcelo Huarte

  4. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Bernal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Fernando Bravo-Almonacid

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  1. Fernando Bravo-Almonacid
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  2. Valeria Rudoy
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Correspondence to Fernando Bravo-Almonacid.

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Bravo-Almonacid, F., Rudoy, V., Welin, B. et al. Field testing, gene flow assessment and pre-commercial studies on transgenic Solanum tuberosum spp. tuberosum (cv. Spunta) selected for PVY resistance in Argentina. Transgenic Res 21, 967–982 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-011-9584-9

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