Gene flow may occur between genetically modified (GM) crops and wild relatives and the fate of escaped transgenes depends on the performance of hybrids and the fitness of the transgene. Hybrids were formed by hand-crossing a GM strain of glyphosate-tolerant soybean and its non-GM counterpart with wild soybean and were assessed in this study. The hundred-seed weight of hybrids was significantly higher than that of wild soybean. However, no overall difference in plant growth was found between GM and non-GM hybrids. The results suggest that the herbicide-resistant transgene may not pose fitness costs and could persist in nature.

No abstract