Gene Dispersal from Genetically Modified Tobacco on the Field
Tsvetan Popov, Rossitza Batchvarova, Slavtcho Slavov, Petya Christova, Milena Aleksandrova, Atanas Atanassov, Isamu Yamaguchi and Hiroyuki Anzai
This study discusses the gene dispersal eval uation of transgenic tobacco lines that are resistant to wild fire disease due to introduction of the ttr gene (tabtoxin resistance gene) from the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci. The selected homozygous lines in R 11 and R 10 from cultivars Nevrokop 1146 and Plovdiv 50 respectively, with complete resistance to wildfire have been characterized for resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) No 17914. PCR and Southern blot analyses were performed to prove the integration of the ttr gene and the copy number of the transgene. These lines were used in two field trials that were carried out in order to evaluate gene flow from transgenic tobaccos of both cultivars. The transgenic plants were surrounded by not transgenic control plants from the same culti vars and the progenies of the controls were screened for the presence of the transgene.