GUIDELINES FOR COMMERCIAL RELEASE OF TRANSGENIC SUGARCANE IN ARGENTINA

ENRIQUE, RAMÓN; RACEDO, J.; NOGUERA, A.; CUENYA, M. I.; OSTENGO, S.; CASTAGNARO, ATILIO; ZOZZI. S.; WELIN, B.; PERERA, M.F.; COSTILLA, D.; FILIPPONE, PAULA

Okinawa

Workshop; ISSCT joint Breeding & Germplasm and Molecular Biology Workshops; 2018

ISSCT

In October 2015 the official approval of commercial release of the firsttransgenic sugarcane variety, RA87-3RG resistant to glyphosate, was issued bythe corresponding regulatory bodies in Argentina. However, basically due toeconomic reasons this release was put on hold by the industrial sugar sector ofour country and wasn´t resumed until this year. The process of deregulation wasinitiated in 2011, and was conducted almost entirely by an interdisciplinaryresearch team of the Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres (EEAOC).During these five years of work several obstacles related to the release of atransgenic variety of a crop without a precedent neither nationally norinternationally had to be overcome. Our first task was to define whichparameters/traits to evaluate, where and for how long a period. This initialelaboration of a work plan was conducted in close collaboration with theNational Advisory Commission on Agricultural Biotechnology (Comisión NacionalAsesora de Biotecnología Agropecuaria, CONABIA) in a procedure called PriorConsultation Instance. CONABIA is the official Argentinean advisory committeethat evaluates all activities related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs)for agricultural use, including commercial crop varieties. Some of the majorconcerns that we had to deal with included the complex genetics of sugarcanewhich prevents the release of a ?transgenic event?, which is standard procedurefor most other crops, such as soybean and maize for instance. Another importantissue was that with sugarcane there is no possibility to store ?seeds? and thatwe are dealing with a perennial crop with high area demands for multiplication.All together our work prompted a complete revolution and reevaluation ofderegulation proceedings in CONABIA. These changes were necessary in order tobe able to accurately evaluate and release a transgenic sugarcane variety. Oneof the most important changes that was implemented by this work was theallowance of the process of deregulation of another variety of the same crop,containing the same or essentially the same genetic construction as apreviously deregulated cultivar, to enter a reduced and simplified deregulationprocess. This resolution is essential for the use of transgenic technology inasexually reproduced crops, because it effectively reduces both cost and timeneeded for a release as you don´t need to go through thewhole testing procedure.