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Performance of Hybrids between Weedy Rice and Insect‐resistant Transgenic Rice under Field Experiments: Implication for Environmental Biosafety Assessment
Author(s) -
Cao QianJin,
Xia Hui,
Yang Xiao,
Lu BaoRong
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of integrative plant biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.734
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1744-7909
pISSN - 1672-9072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7909.2009.00877.x
Subject(s) - weedy rice , biology , hybrid , biosafety , agronomy , weed , panicle , genetically modified rice , introgression , crop , germination , gene flow , paddy field , genetically modified crops , transgene , oryza sativa , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , genetic variation , biochemistry
Transgene escape from genetically modified (GM) rice into weedy rice via gene flow may cause undesired environmental consequences. Estimating the field performance of crop‐weed hybrids will facilitate our understanding of potential introgression of crop genes (including transgenes) into weedy rice populations, allowing for effective biosafety assessment. Comparative studies of three weedy rice strains and their hybrids with two GM rice lines containing different insect‐resistance transgenes ( CpTI or Bt / CpTI ) indicated an enhanced relative performance of the crop‐weed hybrids, with taller plants, more tillers, panicles, and spikelets per plant, as well as higher 1 000‐seed weight, compared with the weedy rice parents, although the hybrids produced less filled seeds per plant than their weedy parents. Seeds from the F 1 hybrids had higher germination rates and produced more seedlings than the weedy parents, which correlated positively with 1 000‐seed weight. The crop‐weed hybrids demonstrated a generally enhanced relative performance than their weedy rice parents in our field experiments. These findings indicate that transgenes from GM rice can persist to and introgress into weedy rice populations through recurrent crop‐to‐weed gene flow with the aid of slightly increased relative fitness in F 1 hybrids.