Development of the transgenic sugarcane event TUC 87-3RG resistant to glyphosate

NOGUERA, RE; ENRIQUE, R.; OSTENGO, S; PERERA, M. F.; RACEDO,J; COSTILLA, D; ZOSSI, S; CUENYA, MI; FILIPPONE, MP; WELIN, B; CASTAGNARO, AP

San Miguel de Tucumán

Congreso; ISSCT XXX Congress; 2019

ISSCT

Sugarcane (Saccharum hybrid) commercial cultivar RA87-3 was transformed through particle bombardment with a genetic construct incorporating the epsps gene from Agrobacterium strain CP4 conferring resistance to the broad-spectrum herbicide glyphosate. Out of 43 PCR-positive transformed lines, 17 showed high glyphosate-resistance when tested under greenhouse conditions. All lines maintained glyphosate resistance when they were planted in a small-scale field trial, but only six showed phenotypic resemblance to the parental cultivar. The process of deregulation started in 2011 and was conducted almost entirely by an interdisciplinary research team of the Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres (EEAOC) responding to a request by the National Advisory Commission on Agricultural Biotechnology (Comisión Nacional Asesora de Biotecnología Agropecuaria, CONABIA) and the National Agrifood Health and Quality Service (Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria, SENASA). The goal of the process was to ensure that the transgenic sugarcane event is substantially equivalent to parental cultivar and is safe for both environmental and human health. All six genotypically and phenotypically closely related events showed comparable agronomical and industrial traits as compared to parental line RA 87-3 when they were field evaluated in two independent production areas in Argentina. Moreover, molecular studies confirmed that two lines were almost identical and were subsequently selected for commercialization. This paper describes some of the results obtained in the evaluation process, as requested by CONABIA and SENASA with the goal of ultimately facilitating the commercial release of the transgenic event TUC 87-3RG.