Efficacy of a special screened greenhouse covered by duplex fine mesh in reducing maize outcrossing

• Published in: Plant Biotechnology Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 387 - 394
• Main Authors: Watanabe, Shin, Sano, Tsunenori, Kamada, Hiroshi, Ezura, Hiroshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Japanese Society for Plant Cell and Molecular Biology 2006; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: 1-mm duplex fine mesh; Genetically modified; outcrossing; special screened greenhouse; Type 2 use; Xenia; Zea mays
• ISSN: 1342-4580; 1347-6114
• DOI: 10.5511/plantbiotechnology.23.387

Gene flow via pollen dispersal leading to the escape of transgenes is a potential concern associated with the introduction of transgenic plants. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between pollen dispersal and outcrossing rate for strict biosafety management during risk assessment. Maize (Zea mays) is one of the crops most at risk for gene leakage via pollen flow into the environment. Here, we report the results of a cross-pollination field investigation using maize varieties showing a xenia effect with tricolor kernels, which allowed us to designate a pollen donor with natural outcrossing and one with reduced outcrossing (via a screened greenhouse) in the same experimental field at the same time. Although a previous study showed that a special screened greenhouse covered by 1-mm single fine mesh may be effective in reducing outcrossing in maize, we used 1-mm duplex fine mesh to reduce further the possibility of outcrossing. We report how a special screened greenhouse covered by 1-mm duplex fine mesh reduced pollen dispersal, and affected the outcrossing rate of non-genetically modified (GM) yellow maize in the greenhouse and white maize outside the greenhouse, compared to natural outcrossing.