Abstract
One of the most frequently raised concerns about the introduction of genetically modified crops is that transgenes may be transferred to wild relatives, resulting either in the disruption of natural patterns of genetic diversity by “pollution” of species gene pools or in the addition of traits which may cause wild plants to become weedy or invasive. This paper examines these ideas from the viewpoint of conservation genetics. We look first at what is known about genetic diversity in natural populations and the forces that shape it, and then consider some of the issues which arise from hybridisations between crops and their wild relatives. The problems of predicting which traits may confer weediness and the importance of taking a case-by-case approach are illustrated by some of our work on virus-resistance in wild Brassica species.
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Gray, A. et al. (2003). The conservation of genetic diversity: gene flow from agriculture. In: Ammann, K., Jacot, Y., Braun, R. (eds) Methods for Risk Assessment of Transgenic Plants. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8033-6_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8033-6_11
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel
Print ISBN: 978-3-0348-9413-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-8033-6
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