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Low level impurities in imported wheat are a likely source of feral transgenic oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) in Switzerland

Schulze, Juerg; Brodmann, Peter; Oehen, Bernadette and Bagutti, Claudia (2015) Low level impurities in imported wheat are a likely source of feral transgenic oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) in Switzerland. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, online, pp. 1-7.

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Document available online at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-015-4903-y


Summary

In Switzerland, the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) and the use of its seeds for food and feed are not permitted. Nevertheless, the GM oilseed rape events GT73, MS8×RF3, MS8 and RF3 have recently been found in the Rhine port of Basel, Switzerland. The sources of GM oilseed rape seeds have been unknown. The main agricultural good being imported at the Rhine port of Basel is wheat and from 2010 to 2013, 19 % of all Swiss wheat imports originated from Canada. As over 90 % of all oilseed rape grown in Canada is GM, we hypothesised that imports of Canadian wheat may contain low level impurities of GM oilseed rape. Therefore, waste fraction samples gathered during the mechanical cleaning of Canadian wheat from two Swiss grain mills were analysed by separating oilseed rape seeds from waste fraction samples and testing DNA of pooled seeds for the presence of transgenes by real-time PCR. Furthermore, oilseed rape seeds from each grain mill were sown in a germination experiment, and seedling DNA was tested for the presence of transgenes by real-time PCR. GT73, MS8×RF3, MS8 and RF3 oilseed rape was detected among seed samples and seedlings of both grain mills. Based on this data, we projected a mean proportion of 0.005 % of oilseed rape in wheat imported from Canada. Besides Canadian wheat, the Rhine port of Basel does not import any other significant amounts of agricultural products from GM oilseed rape producing countries. We therefore conclude that Canadian wheat is the major source of unintended introduction of GM oilseed rape seeds into Switzerland.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:Oilseed rape, Brassica napus, Genetically modified plants, Admixture, Impurities, Durum wheat, Cereal grains, Seed spillage, Transport, Environmental monitoring, Department of Socio-Economics Sciences, Technology Assessment
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
socioeconomic development
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_29966
Subjects: Crop husbandry > Production systems > Cereals, pulses and oilseeds
Crop husbandry > Breeding, genetics and propagation
Research affiliation: Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Society > Economics & market
Switzerland > Other organizations
ISSN:print: 0944-1344, online: 1614-7499
DOI:DOI 10.1007/s11356-015-4903-y
Deposited By: Oehen, Dipl. bot. Bernadette
ID Code:29306
Deposited On:10 Sep 2015 09:59
Last Modified:06 Apr 2022 14:25
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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