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Proteomics -Distributed Protein analysis
Farm Scale Genetically Modified Crop Trials
Monitoring Herbicide Resistant Oilseed Rape trials
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Herbicide Resistant Oilseed Rape (HTOSR) crops have been trialed in Farm Scale size experiments in the UK and
North America.
Herbicide resistance (Glufosinate-ammonium) by Genetic Modification creates plants that are resistant to Glufosinate
ammonium the active ingredient of the herbicide Liberty®. The modification permits farmers to use broad-spectrum herbicide for
weed control in the cultivation of a variety of crops without damaging them.
The transgene is based on the pat gene which was originally isolated from a common soil bacterium, Streptomyces
viridochromogenes, and encodes the enzyme, phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT).
This enzyme is an effector of phosphinothricin tripeptide (ptt) resistance and inactivates ptt by transfer of an acetyl group.
The PAT protein from the bacterium Alcaligenes faecalis. P312668 (Swiss-Prot accession number). It is 197 amino acids long
which comes to a Molecular weight of 21213 Da.
This type of enzyme is quite common in GM and potentially might spread to a range of plant species.
The location we have chosen is near Cambridge and was used for GM trials in 1999.
The map reference is TL 389428, between Royston and Melbourn, in Cambridgeshire, UK
100 fields chosen at random around the test site are sampled at 100 points. Plant tissue is taken and analysed in high throughput
Protein Analysis Systems.
A series of experiments have been performed looking at protein expression in UK cereal crops, and in
particular at comparisons between non-GM (Black, upper plot) and GM (Blue, lower plot) strains.
This work is in collaboration with Rothamstead Research and the UK Food Standards Agency
HT OilSeed Rape. 1 OilSeed Rape. 31
Crop B.
Crop D.
Recreation
18
Woodland
24
Crop C.
13
Un-Sampled
Many factors can effect the transfer of genetic material.
•Meteorology.
•Physical factors.
o Wind speed and direction
o Contour lines
oHumidity
oWoodland
oRainfall
oWater
oAir pressure
oBuilt-up areas
oTemperature
Meteorological data from
the nearby Iceni weather
station
Data presentation
GM Containment Monitoring
Protein or DNA
GM Detection
HTS Data
Acquisition
Govt. Agency
Database
Geographical
Location &
Factors
BioTech
Decision
Making
Distributed
Systems
Response
Advice
Release
Alert
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