Gene flow from genetically modified rice to its wild relatives: Assessing potential ecological consequences.
Pollen-mediated gene flow is the major pathway for transgene escape from GM rice to its wild relatives. Transgene escape to wild Oryza species having AA-genome will occur if GM rice is released to environments with these wild Oryza species. Transgenes may persist to and spread in wild populations after gene flow, resulting unwanted ecological consequences. For assessing the potential consequences caused by transgene escape, it is important to understand the actual gene flow frequencies from GM rice to wild relatives, transgene expression and inheritance in the wild relatives, as well as fitness changes that brought to wild relatives by the transgenes. This article reviews studies on transgene escape from rice to its wild relatives via gene flow and its ecological consequences. A framework for assessing potential ecological consequences caused by transgene escape from GM rice to its wild relatives is discussed based on studies of gene flow and fitness changes.
Lu
Bao-Rong
BR
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: brlu@fudan.edu.cn.
Yang
Chao
C
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai 200433, China.
D004463:Ecology; D051456:Gene Flow; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D018570:Risk Assessment; D019076:Transgenes