Transgenic oilseed rape along transportation routes and port of Vancouver in western Canada

Abstract

The occurrence of transgenic herbicide-resistant oilseed rape (Brassica napus) in ruderal (non-crop disturbed) areas has not been investigated previously in Canada. The primary objective of this study was to document their occurrence in two main ruderal areas (along railways and roads) in the province of Saskatchewan, where half of all oilseed rape is grown, and at the port of Vancouver, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada, where most oilseed rape destined for export is transported by rail. During the 2005 growing season, leaf samples of oilseed rape plants were collected at randomly-selected sites along railways and roads across Saskatchewan ecoregions and at Vancouver; infestation area, density, and plant height of oilseed rape were measured at each site. The presence of the glyphosate and glufosinate resistance traits was determined using test strips. The infestation area of oilseed rape, averaged across 155 sampled sites in the Saskatchewan survey, was markedly smaller in populations along railways than roads; in contrast, infestation area averaged across 54 sites in the Vancouver survey was greater for populations along railways than roads. In both surveys, mean plant density was greater for populations found along railways than roads. Two-thirds of oilseed rape plants sampled across Saskatchewan ecoregions and at Vancouver were transgenic, although the relative proportion of plants with the glyphosate or glufosinate resistance trait varied between surveys. Frequency of occurrence of transgenic plants in ruderal areas was similar to the proportion of the oilseed rape area planted with transgenic cultivars in the recent preceding years. A single transgenic B. rapa x B. napus hybrid was found along a road in Vancouver, confirming the relatively high probability of hybridization between these two Brassica species. With current control measures, transgenic oilseed rape populations may persist and spread in these ruderal areas.

Occurrence of genetically modified rape in feedingstuffs

“…Duże znaczenie ma także wysoka produktywność nasion, brak konieczności okresu ich spoczynku oraz zachowanie długiej zdolności do kiełkowania w niesprzyjających warunkach. W wielu badaniach prowadzonych w miejscach, gdzie uprawia się rzepak GM wykazano przepływ genów pomiędzy osobnikami transgenicznymi a odmianami tradycyjnymi i powstawanie roślin charakteryzujących się odpornością na dany herbicyd (1,4,14,15). Rozprzestrzenianie się tego typu organizmów w środowisku może prowadzić do powstawania tzw.…”

Fitness and beyond: Preparing for the arrival of GM crops with ecologically important novel characters

“…Deployment of life-history modeling approaches has proved a popular and informative strategy to address this need, and has generally confirmed a tendency towards extinction and emphasized the importance of seedbank dynamics and fresh spillage (Aono et al, 2006;Garnier et al, 2006;Pivard et al, 2008aPivard et al, , 2008bSaji et al, 2005;Kowarik, 2007a, 2007b;Yoshimura et al, 2006). These data are useful because they provide a valuable baseline comparator for any transgenic crop.…”

The interplay between societal concerns and the regulatory frame on GM crops in the European Union

“…Traces of unapproved GM crop events have been observed in commercially certified seeds, grains and foodstuffs (Demeke et al, 2006;Friesen et al, 2003;Vogel, 2006), as well as in feral oilseed rape populations located in ports, and along transportation routes (Saji et al, 2005;Yoshimura et al, 2006). Various sources can be at the origin of adventitious mixing between GM and non-GM material: the use of impure seed, the natural pollen flow between neighboring fields, the occurrence of volunteer plants originating from seeds and/or vegetative plant parts from previous crops, the human activities during sowing, harvesting, handling, transporting, storing, importing and processing, and to a lesser extent the presence of certain sexually compatible wild relatives and feral plants (Devos et al, 2004(Devos et al, , 2005.…”