Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2011;6(10):e25736. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025736. Epub 2011 Oct 5.
Concerns regarding the commercial release of genetically engineered (GE) crops include naturalization, introgression to sexually compatible relatives and the transfer of beneficial traits to native and weedy species through hybridization. To date there have been few documented reports of escape leading some researchers to question the environmental risks of biotech products. In this study we conducted a systematic roadside survey of canola (Brassica napus) populations growing outside of cultivation in North Dakota, USA, the dominant canola growing region in the U.S. We document the presence of two escaped, transgenic genotypes, as well as non-GE canola, and provide evidence of novel combinations of transgenic forms in the wild. Our results demonstrate that feral populations are large and widespread. Moreover, flowering times of escaped populations, as well as the fertile condition of the majority of collections suggest that these populations are established and persistent outside of cultivation.
人们对于商业化种植的转基因作物的担忧包括基因自然化、与有性繁殖能力的近亲品种杂交以及通过杂交将有益性状转移到本地种和杂草种。到目前为止，只有少数关于逃逸的记录报告，这使得一些研究人员质疑生物技术产品的环境风险。在这项研究中，我们对美国北达科他州的路边非种植油菜（甘蓝型油菜）种群进行了系统的调查，该地区是美国油菜的主要种植区。我们记录了两种逃逸的转基因基因型的存在，以及非转基因油菜的存在，并提供了野生环境中新型转基因形式组合的证据。我们的研究结果表明，野生种群数量大且分布广泛。此外，逃逸种群的开花时间以及大多数样本的可育状态表明，这些种群在没有人为干预的情况下已经建立并持续存在。
