Monitoring adventitious presence of transgenes in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) collections from the regions in India bordering Bangladesh: a case report

摘要

India has been predicted as a center of origin of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) with large number of wild and weedy relatives distributed across the Indian subcontinent. Fruit and Shoot Borer (FSB) is one of the most devastating insect pests of brinjal causing production losses up to 80%. Bt technology has played a key role in imparting FSB resistance in brinjal. In 2013, Bt brinjal event EE1 was commercialized in Bangladesh. Since the neighbouring country shares porous borders with north-eastern states of India, it is important to check for any unapproved entry of genetically modified (GM) brinjal in India. Adventitious presence of transgenes was monitored in the samples collected from regions of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and West Bengal bordering Bangladesh. A total of 211 brinjal samples were collected from 32 locations of selected states. Conventional singleplex and multiplex PCR assays and real time PCR were employed to target the genetic elements of Bt Brinjal viz. cry1Ac transgene, Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter (P-35S), neomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) and aminoglycoside-3 '-adenyltransferase (aadA) marker genes. Based on the tests conducted, adventitious presence of transgenes was not detected in any of the collected samples. This approach targeting common screening elements or specific GM target could be efficiently employed to check for unapproved GM events in food and supply chain to comply with the regulatory requirements.