Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T23:54:27.913Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Transgenic oilseed rape along transportation routesand port of Vancouver in western Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2007

Yasuyuki Yoshimura
Affiliation:
 National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8604, Japan
Hugh J. Beckie
Affiliation:
 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Kazuhito Matsuo
Affiliation:
 National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8604, Japan

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

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.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© ISBR, EDP Sciences, 2006

References

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (2003) A national ecological framework for Canada: GIS Data, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/nsdb/ecostrat/gis_data.html
Aono M, Wakiyama S, Nagatsu M, Nakajima N, Tamaoki M, Kubo A, Saji H (2006) Detection of feral transgenic oilseed rape with multiple-herbicide resistance in Japan. Environ. Biosafety Res. 5, doi: 10.1051/ebr:2006017
Beckie, HJ, Thomas, AG, Légère, A, Kelner, DJ, Van Acker, RC, Meers, S (1999) Nature, occurrence, and cost of herbicide-resistant wild oat (Avena fatua) in small-grain production areas. Weed Technol. 13: 612625
Beckie HJ, Hall LM, Warwick SI (2001) Impact of herbicide-resistant crops as weeds in Canada. In Proc. Brighton Crop Protection Conf. – Weeds. British Crop Protection Council, Farnham, Surrey, UK, pp 135–142
Beckie HJ, Warwick SI, Nair H, Séguin-Swartz G (2003) Gene flow in commercial fields of herbicide-resistant canola (Brassica napus). Ecol. Appl. 13: 1276–1294
Beckie, HJ, Séguin-Swartz, G, Nair, H, Warwick, SI, Johnson E (2004) Multiple herbicide-resistant canola can be controlled by alternative herbicides. Weed Sci. 52: 152157 CrossRef
Beckie, HJ, Harker, KN, Hall, LM, Warwick, SI, Légère, A, Sikkema, PH, Clayton, GW, Thomas, AG, Leeson, JY, Séguin-Swartz, G, Simard, M-J (2006) A decade of herbicide-resistant crops in Canada. Can. J. Plant Sci. 86: 1243– 1264 CrossRef
Canola Council of Canada (2006) Canadian canola industry market statistics. Canola Council of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. http://www.canola-council.org/seedexports.html
Garnier, A, Deville, A, Lecomte, J (2006) Stochastic modelling of feral plant populations with seed immigration and road verge management. Ecol. Model. 197: 373382 CrossRef
Gulden, RH, Shirtliffe, SJ, Thomas, AG (2003) Secondary seed dormancy prolongs persistence of volunteer canola (Brassica napus) in western Canada. Weed Sci. 51: 904913 CrossRef
Hall, L, Topinka, K, Huffman, J, Davis, L, Good, A (2000) Pollen flow between herbicide-resistant Brassica napus is the cause of multiple-resistant B. napus volunteers. Weed Sci. 48: 688694 CrossRef
Hall LM, Good A, Beckie HJ, Warwick SI (2003) Gene flow in herbicide-resistant canola (Brassica napus): the Canadian experience. In Lelley T, Balázs E, Tepfer M, eds, Ecological impact of GMO dissemination in agro-ecosystems, Facultas Verlags-und Buchhandels AG, Austria, pp 57–66
Hall LM, Rahman MH, Gulden RH, Thomas AG (2005) Volunteer oilseed rape – will herbicide-resistance traits assist ferality? In Gressel J, ed, Crop ferality and volunteerism, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, pp 59–79
Harker, KN, Clayton, GW, Blackshaw, RE, O’Donovan, JT, Johnson, EN, Gan, Y, Holm FA, Sapsford KL, Irvine RB, Van Acker RC (2006) Persistence of glyphosate-resistant canola in western Canadian cropping systems. Agron. J. 98: 107119 CrossRef
Kim, CG, Yi, H, Park, S, Yeon, JE, Kim, DY, Kim, DL, Lee, KH, Lee, TC, Paek, IS, Yoon, WK, Jeong SC, Kim HM (2006) Monitoring the occurrence of genetically modified soybean and maize around cultivated fields and at a grain receiving port in Korea. J. Plant Biol. 49: 218223 CrossRef
Kvalseth TO (1985) Cautionary note about R 2. Am. Stat. 39: 279–285
Leeson JY, Thomas AG, Brenzil CA (2003) Saskatchewan weed survey of cereal, oilseed and pulse crops in 2003, Weed Survey Series Publication 03-1, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Leeson JY, Thomas AG, Hall LM, Brenzil CA, Andrews T, Brown KR, Van Acker RC (2005) Prairie weed surveys of cereal, oilseed and pulse crops from the 1970s to the 2000s, Weed Survey Series Publication 05-1, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Légère A, Simard M-J, Thomas AG, Pageau D, Lajeunesse J, Warwick SI, Derksen DA (2001) Presence and persistence of volunteer canola in Canadian cropping systems. In Proc. Brighton Crop Protection Conf. – Weeds. British Crop Protection Council, Farnham, Surrey, UK, pp 143–148
Pessel, FD, Lecomte, J, Emeriau, V, Krouti, M, Messean, A, Gouyon, PH (2001) Persistence of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) outside of cultivated fields. Theor. Appl. Genet. 102: 841846 CrossRef
Saji, H, Nakajima, N, Aono, M, Tamaoki, M, Kubo, A, Wakiyama, S, Hatase, Y, Nagatsu, M (2005) Monitoring the escape of transgenic oilseed rape around Japanese ports and roadsides. Environ. Biosafety Res. 4: 217222 CrossRef
Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation (2004) Saskatchewan rail network map, Department of Highways and Transportation. http://www.highways.gov.sk.ca/docs/maps/railnetwork_04.pdf
Simard, M-J, Légère, A, Séguin-Swartz, G, Nair, H, Warwick, S (2005) Fitness of double vs. single herbicide-resistant canola. Weed Sci. 53: 489498 CrossRef
Snow AA, Andersen B, Jørgensen RB (1999) Costs of transgenic herbicide resistance introgressed from Brassica napus into weedy Brassica rapa. Mol. Ecol. 8: 605–615
Statistical Analysis Systems (1999) SAS/STAT user’s guide, version 8, Statistical Analysis Systems Institute, Inc., Cary, North Carolina, USA
Statistics Canada (2005) November estimate of production of principal field crops, Canada, 2005, Field Crop Reporting Series 84:8, Catalogue Number 22-002-XPB, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Warwick SI (2005) Past/future research perspective from Canada: living with GM crops in agriculture, Gene Flow in Plants and Microorganisms Initiative Workshop, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), 23–24 June 2005 Symposium Abstract, London, UK
Warwick, SI, Simard, M-J, Légère, A, Beckie, HJ, Braun, L, Zhu, B, Mason, P, Séguin-Swartz, G, Stewart, CN (2003) Hybridization between transgenic Brassica napus L. and its wild relatives: Brassica rapa L., Raphanus raphanistrum L., Sinapis arvensis L., and Erucastrum gallicum (Willd.) O.E. Schulz. Theor. Appl. Genet. 107: 528539 CrossRef