Common DNA sequences with potential for detection of genetically manipulated organisms in food

Abstract

Foods produced by genetic engineering technology are now appearing on the market and many more are likely to emerge in the future. The safety aspects, regulation, and labelling of these foods are still contentious issues in most countries and recent surveys highlight consumer concerns about the safety and labelling of genetically modified food. In most countries it is necessary to have approval for the use of genetically manipulated organisms (GMOs) in the production of food. In order to police regulations, a technology to detect such foods is desirable. In addition, a requirement to label approved genetically modified food would necessitate a monitoring system. One solution is to ‘tag’ approved GMOs with some form of biological or genetic marker, permitting the surveillance of foods for the presence of approved products of genetic engineering. While non‐approved GMOs would not be detected by such a surveillance, they might be detected by a screen for DNA sequences common to all or most GMOs. This review focuses on the potential of using common DNA sequences as detection probes for GMOs. The identification of vector sequences, plant transcription terminators, and marker genes by PCR and hybridization techniques is discussed.

Assessment of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) in Meat Products by PCR

“…Most commercially approved GMOs have been transformed using constructs containing sequences from the Caulifl ower Mosaic Virus (CaMV, i.e., 35S promoter [P -35S] and/or 35S terminator [T -35S]) or from Agrobacterium tumefaciens (i.e., nopaline synthetase terminator [T -nos ]). Screening methodologies have also traditionally used selectable marker genes that encode proteins that confer herbicide or antibiotic resistance (Draper and Scout 1991 ;Flavell et al 1992 ;Kok et al 1994 ;MacCormick et al 1998 ). The most accepted marker gene has been npt II, encoding resistance to aminoglicosidic antibiotics (neomicin/kanamicin).…”

Detection of Genetically Modified Organisms in Foods by DNA Amplification Techniques

“…some promoters and terminators used in most of the first GMOs approved for commercialisation. 7 The two sequences more frequently used with this purpose are the promoter P-35S from Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) and the nopaline synthase gene terminator, nos3', from Agrobacterium tumefaciens (see Table 1). Alternatively, some structural genes that are used very often in GMO crops in order to improve field performance or as part of the transformation system can also be the target for screening methods.…”

“…antibiotic resistance or herbicide resistance when this is not the primary character, signalling peptides for fusion proteins, or introns. [7][8][9][10] In the case of transgenic plants, the GMO resulting from the stable insertion of a specific construction in the genome is known as a rmation event. It is characterised by the insertion, in a precise chromosomal location, of one or several copies, either complete or truncated, of the construct.…”

Detection of transgenes in soybean via a polymerase chain reaction and a simple bioluminometric assay based on a universal aequorin-labeled oligonucleotide probe

“…PCR methods based on common DNA sequences with potential for the detection of GMOs have been developed [11,12]. Amplification products are usually analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining of separated DNA fragments.…”