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Assessment of risk of GM contamination in flaxseed accessions imported from Canada: a case study to restrict the unauthorized GM events from entering India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2022

Monika Singh
Affiliation:
Division of Genomic Resources, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi 110012, India
Kushaldeep Kaur
Affiliation:
Division of Genomic Resources, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi 110012, India
Shilpi Sharma
Affiliation:
Division of Genomic Resources, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi 110012, India
Aparna Paliwal
Affiliation:
Division of Genomic Resources, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi 110012, India
Mamta Singh
Affiliation:
Division of Germplasm Evaluation, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi 110012, India
Raghavendra Aminedi
Affiliation:
Division of Genomic Resources, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi 110012, India
Vikender Kaur
Affiliation:
Division of Germplasm Evaluation, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi 110012, India
Gurinderjit Randhawa*
Affiliation:
Division of Genomic Resources, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi 110012, India
*
Authors for correspondence: Monika Singh, E-mail: monika.singh@icar.gov.in; monikasinghnbpgr@gmail.com; Gurinderjit Randhawa, E-mail: gurinder.randhawa@icar.gov.in

Abstract

In India, the restriction of genetically modified (GM) crops and derived products not approved in the country necessitates surveillance for transgene(s) in plant material/products imported into the country. CDC Triffid expressing acetolactate synthase (ALS) conferring tolerance to sulphonylurea herbicide is the only GM flax event that has got approval in Canada in 1990s and subsequently deregistered in 2001. In spite of deregistration, the unexpected and unauthorized detection of traces of GM flax in the consignments imported from Canada to Europe has further necessitated the stringent monitoring of flax shipments from Canada for suspected GM incidents. This study reports on the detection of transgenic elements being present in GM flax employing polymerase chain reaction assays, in a set of 123 flaxseed accessions imported from Canada for research purpose. Based on the tests conducted, none of the transgenic elements, namely, nos promoter (P-nos), nos terminator (T-nos), nptII marker gene, ALS transgene, as present in the GM flax CDC Triffid were detected in any of the tested accessions. The well-known herbicide tolerance gene cp4-epsps, being employed in Roundup® Ready events of other crops, was also not detected in these samples. This case study has demonstrated the importance of monitoring the presence of transgene(s) in flaxseed imports, and such studies need to be carried out for the imported seeds from the country where GM events of respective crop are being approved whereas they have not been approved in the country of import as a part of precautionary approach.

Type
Short Communication
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of NIAB

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