LISTSERV - IOWA-TOPICS Archives - LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG

Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 02:05:20 -0700
From: "GMWatch" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: GMW: Illegal gene flow from GM grass
To: [log in to unmask]
Sender: [log in to unmask]
Reply-To: "GMWatch" <[log in to unmask]>
Precedence: list
Content-type: text/plain;
	charset="utf-8"
Message-Id: <[log in to unmask]>
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable


1.Escape and hybridization of a genetically modified invasive plant
2.Illegal gene flow from transgenic creeping bentgrass: the saga continue=
s

NOTE; Scotts, the US lawn and garden care company, teamed up with Monsant=
o to develop Roundup Ready
bentgrass seed with a view to selling it to the lucrative golf-course mar=
ket. The US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and most of Or=
egon's grass-seed growers all had major concerns about its development. B=
ut Scotts still got the green light to begin GM bentgrass trials in Orego=
n. A decade later the problems of GM contamination continue and appear to=
 be growing more complex.
---
---
1.Escape and hybridization of a genetically modified invasive plant
Invasive Plant Guide Blog, October 5 2012
http://invasiveplantguide.com/blog/?p=3D164=09

Back in 2002 Scotts Company planted Roundup resistant Agrostis stolonifer=
a (creeping bentgrass) in a trial field in Oregon. The genes moved in pol=
len carried by the wind to wild Agrostis stolonifera and A. gigantea plan=
ts up to 21 km away. Scotts failed to kill all the transgenic plants foun=
d outside the field boundaries and populations of transgenic plants were =
found in 2006. Now scientists have found a wild creeping bentgrass plant =
hybridized with pollen contribution from a grass in another genera, Polyp=
ogon monspeliensis, to create a transgenic hybrid grass. A decision about=
 deregulating transgenic Agrostis stolonifera is still pending.  Let's ho=
pe this new data gets taken into consideration!
---
---
2.Illegal gene flow from transgenic creeping bentgrass: the saga continue=
s
ALLISON A SNOW
Molecular Ecology, Volume 21, Issue 19, pages 4663=E2=80=934664, October =
2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05695.x
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05695.x/abstr=
act

ABSTRACT: Ecologists have paid close attention to environmental effects t=
hat fitness-enhancing transgenes might have following crop-to-wild gene f=
low (e.g. Snow et al. 2003). For some crops, gene flow also can lead to l=
egal problems, especially when government agencies have not approved tran=
sgenic events for unrestricted environmental release. Creeping bentgrass =
(Agrostis stolonifera), a common turfgrass used in golf courses, is the f=
ocus of both areas of concern. In 2002, prior to expected deregulation (s=
till pending), The Scotts Company planted creeping bentgrass with transge=
nic resistance to the herbicide glyphosate, also known as RoundUp=C2=AE, =
on 162 ha in a designated control area in central Oregon (Fig. 1). Despit=
e efforts to restrict gene flow, wind-dispersed pollen carried transgenes=
 to florets of local A. stolonifera and A. gigantea as far as 14 km away,=
 and to sentinel plants placed as far as 21 km away (Watrud et al. 2004).=
 Then, in August 2003, a strong wind event moved
transgenic seeds from windrows of cut bentgrass into nearby areas. The co=
mpany=E2=80=99s efforts to kill all transgenic survivors in the area fail=
ed: feral glyphosate-resistant populations of A. stolonifera were found b=
y Reichman et al. (2006), and 62% of 585 bentgrass plants had the telltal=
e CP4 EPSPS transgene in 2006 (Zapiola et al. 2008; Fig. 2). Now, in this=
 issue, the story gets even more interesting as Zapiola & Mallory-Smith (=
2012) describe a transgenic, intergeneric hybrid produced on a feral, tra=
nsgenic creeping bentgrass plant that received pollen from Polypogon mons=
peliensis (rabbitfoot grass). Their finding raises a host of new question=
s about the prevalence and fitness of intergeneric hybrids, as well as ho=
w to evaluate the full extent of gene flow from transgenic crops.

................................................................
Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
Profiles: http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/GM_Watch:_Portal
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GMWatch
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/GMWatch/276951472985?ref=3Dnf

This email should only be sent to those who have asked to receive it.
To unsubscribe, contact [log in to unmask], specifying which list you wish=
 to unsubscribe from.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask]

Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information:
http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp