Plant biotechnology in the field - A snapshot with emphasis on horticultural crops

摘要

Within a relatively short time, the plant biotechnology industry has progressed from the first small-scale field trials in 1987 to the commercial release of transgenic crops in the mid- to late 1990s. A tremendous portion of the U.S. acreage was committed to genetically engineered cultivars of major agronomic crops within 3 to 4 years of commercial release of the first wave of transgenic crops. Acreage of cotton planted to transgenic cultivars grew rapidly from 10 percent in 1997, to 26 percent in 1998, and 46 percent in 2000, while acres of transgenic soybean increased from 15 percent in 1997 to >50 percent in 2000 [Brownlee, 1998; Meyerson, 1997; Economic Research Service, USDA (http://www.ers.usda.gov/)]. Although transgenic horticultural crops have not achieved the same level of production, several transgenic products have reached the market, and a new generation of engineered horticultural crops is likely to follow in the next decade. This brief overview provides a snapshot of the commercial or near-commercial production oftransgenic horticultural crops. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) records of field trials of genetically engineered plants have been a valuable source of information in compiling this report. Since experimental field trials with transgenic plants must be registered, this information is available through the USDA-APHIS-BSS (Biotechnology and Scientific Services, "BM 1," (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/biotech/) and the Virginia Tech, Information Systems for Biotechnology (ISB) (http:// www.nbiap.vt.edu/cfdocs/fieldtests.1.cfm), websites.