ITA-NOA   24624
INSTITUTO DE TECNOLOGIA AGROINDUSTRIAL DEL NOROESTE ARGENTINO
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Guidelines for commercial release of transgenic sugarcane in Argentina
Autor/es:
PERERA, M.F.; COSTILLA, D.; FILIPPONE, M.P.; NOGUERA, A. S.; OSTENGO, S.; ZOSSI, S.; BJORN, W.; ENRIQUE, R.; RACEDO, J.; CUENYA, M.I.; CASTAGNARO, A.P.
Reunión:
Conferencia; ISSCT 12th Germplasm & Breeding Workshop and 9th Molecular Biology Workshop: Improvement of sugarcane for stress environments; 2018
Resumen:
In October 2015 the official approval of commercial release of the first transgenic sugarcane variety, RA87-3RG resistant to glyphosate, was issued by the corresponding regulatory bodies in Argentina. However, basically due to economic reasons this release was put on hold by the industrial sugar sector of our country and wasn´t resumed until this year. The process of deregulation was initiated in 2011, and was conducted almost entirely by an interdisciplinary research team of the Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres (EEAOC). During these five years of work several obstacles related to the release of a transgenic variety of a crop without a precedent neither nationally nor internationally had to be overcome. Our first task was to define which parameters/traits to evaluate, where and for how long a period. This initial elaboration of a work plan was conducted in close collaboration with the National Advisory Commission on Agricultural Biotechnology (Comisión Nacional Asesora de Biotecnología Agropecuaria, CONABIA) in a procedure called Prior Consultation Instance. CONABIA is the official Argentinean advisory committee that evaluates all activities related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for agricultural use, including commercial crop varieties. Some of the major concerns that we had to deal with included the complex genetics of sugarcane which prevents the release of a ?transgenic event?, which is standard procedure for most other crops, such as soybean and maize for instance. Another important issue was that with sugarcane there is no possibility to store ?seeds? and that we are dealing with a perennial crop with high area demands for multiplication. All together our work prompted a complete revolution and reevaluation of deregulation proceedings in CONABIA. These changes were necessary in order to be able to accurately evaluate and release a transgenic sugarcane variety. One of the most important changes that was implemented by this work was the allowance of the process of deregulation of another variety of the same crop, containing the same or essentially the same genetic construction as a previously deregulated cultivar, to enter a reduced and simplified deregulation process. This resolution is essential for the use of transgenic technology in asexually reproduced crops, because it effectively reduces both cost and time needed for a release as you don´t need to go through the whole testing procedure.