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Assessment of Real-time PCR Based Methods for Quantification of Pollen-mediated Gene Flow from GM to Conventional Maize in a Field Study

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Abstract

Maize is one of the main crops worldwide and an increasing number of genetically modified (GM) maize varieties are cultivated and commercialized in many countries in parallel to conventional crops. Given the labeling rules established e.g. in the European Union and the necessary coexistence between GM and non-GM crops, it is important to determine the extent of pollen dissemination from transgenic maize to other cultivars under field conditions. The most widely used methods for quantitative detection of GMO are based on real-time PCR, which implies the results are expressed in genome percentages (in contrast to seed or grain percentages). Our objective was to assess the accuracy of real-time PCR based assays to accurately quantify the contents of transgenic grains in non-GM fields in comparison with the real cross-fertilization rate as determined by phenotypical analysis. We performed this study in a region where both GM and conventional maize are normally cultivated and used the predominant transgenic maize Mon810 in combination with a conventional maize variety which displays the characteristic of white grains (therefore allowing cross-pollination quantification as percentage of yellow grains). Our results indicated an excellent correlation between real-time PCR results and number of cross-fertilized grains at Mon810 levels of 0.1–10%. In contrast, Mon810 percentage estimated by weight of grains produced less accurate results. Finally, we present and discuss the pattern of pollen-mediated gene flow from GM to conventional maize in an example case under field conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Tecnologia Agroalimentària (INTEA), Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, Escola Politècnica Superior (edif.1), 17071, Girona, Spain

    Maria Pla & Teresa Esteve

  2. Institut de Biologia Molecular de Barcelona (IBMB), Consorci CSIC-IRTA (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Maria Pla, José-Luis La Paz & Nora García

  3. Departament de Genètica Vegetal, Consorci CSIC-IRTA, Carretera de Cabrils s/n, 08348, Barcelona, Spain

    Gisela Peñas, Montserrat Palaudelmàs, Joaquima Messeguer & Enric Melé

Authors
  1. Maria Pla
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  2. José-Luis La Paz
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  3. Gisela Peñas
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  4. Nora García
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  5. Montserrat Palaudelmàs
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  6. Teresa Esteve
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  7. Joaquima Messeguer
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  8. Enric Melé
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Correspondence to Maria Pla.

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Pla, M., Paz, JL.L., Peñas, G. et al. Assessment of Real-time PCR Based Methods for Quantification of Pollen-mediated Gene Flow from GM to Conventional Maize in a Field Study. Transgenic Res 15, 219–228 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-005-4945-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-005-4945-x

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