Glyphosate inhibits plant growth by blocking an enzyme known as EPSP synthase, which is involved in as much as 35% of a plant’s mass. The Monsanto GMO technique, for example, involved inserting genes derived from bacteria that infect plants into a crop’s genome to boost EPSP-synthase production. They quite cleverly used nature to make crops pesticide-resistant, so farmers can wipe out weeds from the fields without damaging their crops, which means better yields, more food at cheaper prices and a lower environmental footprint, including global warming emissions.
A new study has shown that it may be possible for transgenes like glyphosate resistance to make other plants more competitive in survival and reproduction, such as a weedy form of rice, even in the absence of the herbicide, and without genetic modification.
Genetically modified crops pass benefits to weeds by Jane Qiu, Nature News
Citation: Wei Wang, Hui Xia, Xiao Yang, Ting Xu, Hong Jiang Si, Xing Xing Cai, Feng Wang, Jun Su, Allison A. Snow, Bao-Rong Lu, 'A novel 5-enolpyruvoylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase transgene for glyphosate resistance stimulates growth and fecundity in weedy rice (Oryza sativa) without herbicide', New Phytologist 1 AUG 2013 DOI: 10.1111/nph.12428
Comments