Abstract

TURRENT-FERNANDEZ, Antonio; SERRATOS-HERNANDEZ, J. Antonio; MEJIA-ANDRADE, Hugo  and  ESPINOSA-CALDERON, Alejandro. Evaluation proposal of possible impact of transgene accumulation in mexican maize landraces. Agrociencia [online]. 2009, vol.43, n.3, pp.257-265. ISSN 2521-9766.

The liberation of genetically modified maize (GMM) on commercial scale in México, potentially involves the genetic interaction among over 30 independent transgenic events (probably more than 30 different transgenic loci) and more than 50 Mexican maize landraces (MML) in Mexican farmlands. Although the Law of Biosecurity of Genetically Modified Organisms (LBGMO) and its Norms establish the assumption that the control of pollen makes it possible to minimize the genetic interaction between the two maizes, it is possible that the "seed-pollen" alternative, not forseen in this law, contradicts the realism of this assumption. The present status of recombinant DNA technology does not allow the predetermination of the transgenic locus of each transformation, thus the more than 30 independent transgenic loci of the seed market would be dispersed in the chromosomic space. This is the central cause of transgene accumulation in the MML, when the GMM and the MML interact genetically, with effects that still unknown. This assay proposes a test of the hypothesis of a damage deleterious threshold of transgene accumulation in each MML. The impact of 10 cycles of crosses between the MML and 32 or more transgenic hybrids is discussed, to obtain populations with individuals that accumulate transgenic weights from zero to 32 or more. Also it is discussed the biological, agronomic and molecular evaluation of the genotypes under study.

Keywords : Transgene accumulation in Mexican maize landraces; genetically modified maize; maize landraces.