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Risk assessment of genetically modified zoysiagrasses (Zoysia japonica) in a zebrafish model

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Abstract

Genetically modified (GM) plants have been mainly advanced for the mass production of agricultural plants. However, there are concerns about GM crops which cause side effects on ecosystems and human beings. Zebrafish is a better in vivo model and possess the advantages; small size, large clutches, transparency, low cost, and physiological similarity to mammals. The objective of this study was to assess the safety of non-GM and GM grasses (Zoysia japonica) including JG21, JG21-MS1, JG21-MS2 in zebrafish embryos by examining the survival rates, heart-beating rate, yolk sac edema size, cell death, and morphology. The survival rates, heart-beating rates, and yolk sac edema sizes in non-GM and GM grass-treated zebrafish were similar change with the control group. And, all the groups did not show a significant difference within less than 1.0-fold in cell death by fluorescence levels. These results indicate that the zebrafish model is a useful and simple tool and can be used for risk assessment of GM plants.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the 2019 scientific promotion program funded by Jeju National University. This research was also supported in part by grants from Bio-Green 21 Program of Rural Development Administration (PJ01368501) and from Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) of the Ministry of Education (2019R1A6A1A11052070), Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Life Science, Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243, Republic of Korea

    Hye-Won Yang & You-Jin Jeon

  2. Jeju International Marine Science Center for Research & Education, Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST), Jeju, 63349, Republic of Korea

    Eun-A. Kim

  3. Subtropical Horticulture Research Institute, Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243, Republic of Korea

    Hyeon-Jin Sun & Hong-Gyu Kang

  4. Faculty of Biotechnology, Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243, Republic of Korea

    Hyo-Yeon Lee

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  1. Hye-Won Yang
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  3. Hyeon-Jin Sun
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  4. Hong-Gyu Kang
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Correspondence to Hyo-Yeon Lee or You-Jin Jeon.

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Yang, HW., Kim, EA., Sun, HJ. et al. Risk assessment of genetically modified zoysiagrasses (Zoysia japonica) in a zebrafish model. Plant Biotechnol Rep 15, 251–258 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11816-021-00662-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11816-021-00662-9

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