Expression of the introduced genes for herbicide tolerance and a hybrid breeding system increasing the invasiveness of the GM canola
If the GM canola plants were to establish or persist in the environment, the exposure of humans and other organisms to the GM plant material could be increased. The potential for increased allergenicity in people or toxicity in people and other organisms as a result of contact with GM plant materials was discussed in Risk scenario 1 and was not considered an identified risk.
If the expression of the introduced genes for herbicide tolerance and a hybrid breeding system were to provide the GM canola plants with a significant selective advantage over commercially released canola plants and if they were able to establish and persist in non-cropped disturbed habitats and undisturbed natural habitats, this may give rise to lower abundance of desirable species, reduced species richness, or undesirable changes in species composition. Similarly, the GM canola plants could adversely affect cultivated areas if they exhibited a greater ability to establish and persist than commercially released canola.
As canola does not reproduce vegetatively under natural conditions, the most likely method of dispersal is via seed. Pod shattering can disperse seeds over short distances. It is also possible that GM canola plant material from windrows, including seed, could be blown beyond field boundaries. Dispersal distance would depend on the wind strength, the amount of trash on the ground and the moisture content of the material.
Dispersal of viable seed further from cultivated areas could occur in a variety of ways including endozoochory (dispersal through ingestion by animals), the activity of animals such as rodents and herbivores, through extremes of weather such as flooding or high winds, or via spillage during transport. If InVigor® x Roundup Ready® canola were commercialised, its distribution in unmanaged areas adjacent to fields and along transportation corridors would be expected to be comparable to that of non-GM volunteers.
The geographic range of non-GM canola in Australia is limited by a number of biotic and abiotic factors, including disease pressure, water and nutrient availability (OGTR 2011). As discussed in Chapter 1, Section , the agronomic characteristics of MS8 x RF3 x GT73 hybrids were comparable to their commercial MS8 x RF3 counterparts, apart from a small delay to maturity. Minimum and maximum values reported for MS8 x RF3 x GT73 plants were well within the range of values reported for the commercial hybrids. The production of the MS8 x RF3 x GT73 hybrids is not expected to alter the tolerance of plants to biotic or abiotic stresses that normally restrict geographic range and persistence of canola in natural habitats.
The weediness of the parental GM canola lines was assessed in the RARMPs prepared for DIR 020/2002 and DIR 021/2002. This information was summarised and updated in Chapter 1, Section 137. In summary, the introduced genes do not increase the potential weediness of the parental GM canola lines or provide these plants with an ecological advantage over non-GM canola, except in the presence of glyphosate (for Roundup Ready® canola) or glufosinate ammonium (for InVigor® canola). The GM hybrid canolas proposed for release are not expected to have any additional weediness traits, as the same genes will be expressed under the control of the same regulatory elements. Canola tolerant to glufosinate ammonium and glyphosate are no more competitive than the parent single herbicide tolerant plants (Simard et al. 2005).
All GM canolas proposed for release will contain two herbicide tolerance traits. Expression of these traits will confer a selective advantage over non-GM counterparts in environments in which the corresponding herbicide is applied, such as agricultural settings and along roadsides. As the mode of action of each gene is herbicide-specific, cross-tolerance to other herbicides is not expected in the GM lines. Glufosinate ammonium is not widely used in broad-acre cropping or management of disturbed areas, so control options for the InVigor® x Roundup Ready® canola in these areas will be similar to those currently available to control Roundup Ready® canola. The management of InVigor® x Roundup Ready® canola on roadsides and other disturbed habitats could be achieved by the variety of the management strategies available, including a range of alternative herbicides, tank mixing, and non-chemical management methods such as mowing, slashing, cultivation, burning and grazing.
The use of alternative herbicides raises the issue that the herbicides likely to be used for the control of InVigor® x Roundup Ready® canola volunteers may be more toxic or more persistent than glyphosate or glufosinate-ammonium. These herbicides could include, among others, 2,4 D, paraquat or trifluralin. Such herbicides are registered for use by the APVMA. The APVMA ensures that the use-patterns specified in herbicide label conditions do not compromise the safety of users or the environment. The APVMA also has a program for reporting any adverse effects associated with agricultural chemical use and a program to review already registered agricultural chemicals.
When the weed risk potential of the GMOs are assessed based on the National Post-Border Weed Risk Management Protocol, they are considered to have no higher rating in terms of invasiveness or negative impacts than non-GM canola (see Chapter 1, Section 4.2) or the GM parental lines (see Chapter 1, Section 5.5).
Conclusion: The potential for improved survival of the GM canola through the expression of the introduced genes leading to increased spread and persistence in the environment is not identified as a risk that could be greater than negligible. Therefore, it does not warrant further detailed assessment.
Vertical gene flow is the transfer of genes from an individual organism to its progeny by conventional heredity mechanisms, both asexual and sexual. In flowering plants, pollen dispersal is the main mode of gene flow (reviewed in Waines & Hegde 2003). For GM plants, vertical gene flow could therefore occur via successful cross pollination between the plant and neighbouring plants, related weeds or native plants (Glover 2002).
It should be noted that vertical gene flow per se is not considered an adverse outcome, but may be a link in a chain of events that may lead to an adverse outcome. For an increased potential for adverse effects to arise as a result of gene flow of the introduced genetic elements from the GM canola to sexually compatible plants, both of the following steps must occur:
transfer of the introduced genetic elements to sexually compatible plants
increased potential for adverse effects, such as toxicity or spread and persistence of the recipient plants, due to expression of the introduced gene.
Baseline information on vertical gene transfer associated with non-GM canola plants can be found in The Biology of Brassica napus L. (canola) (OGTR 2011) and in the RARMP prepared for DIR 105. In summary, canola is predominantly self-pollinating with average inter-plant outcrossing rates of 30%. Most outcrossing between fields generally occurs within the first 10 m of the recipient field, and rates decline with distance.
InVigor® x Roundup Ready® canola was generated by conventional crossing of three genetic modification events and, as expected, the events have been inserted into different regions of the plant genome and therefore segregate independently of one another. This means, after any initial out-crossing of InVigor® x Roundup Ready® canola, any subsequent generations may contain the same genes as either InVigor® or Roundup Ready® canola. Transfer of these single events into sexually compatible species was considered prior to approval of licences for DIR020/2002 and 021/2002 and the risks were considered negligible.
