Inverse Geneflow Between GM, Non GM Potatoes Likely

Biosafety measures are paramount to the deployment of genetically modified (GM) potatoes in the Andean region where wild potatoes exists. Observations reported by Maria Scurrah and colleagues in Peru and the Netherlands, indicate that there is a high frequency of natural hybridization between wild and cultivated potato species in the Peruvian Andes.

Scurrah and group used 54 accessions of Solanum species in an open field experiment and used the AFLP molecular markers to determine the most likely male parents of the offsprings. The group recommends that due to high occurrence of natural hybridizations in potatoes, inverse gene flow in the deployment of GM cultivars in the region should be prevented by using sterile cultivars - those with scarce flower production and lacking seed production.

The paper published in Euphytica can be accessed by journal subscribers at http://www.springerlink.com/content/v00433233420jml3/fulltext.pdf