Development and Field Evaluation of Near-Isogenic Lines of GR2-EBRRI dhan29 Golden Rice.

Vitamin A deficiency remains a common public health problem among the rice-dependent poor people in the developing countries of Asia. Conventional milled rice does not contain provitamin A (β-carotene) in is edible part (endosperm) and is also deficient in essential minerals, such as iron and zinc. Transgenic Golden Rice event GR2E, which produces β-carotene in its endosperm, was used as a parent to introgress the transgene locus conferring β-carotene biosynthesis into a widely grown rice variety, BRRI dhan29, which covers around 26.

Development and characterization of GR2E Golden rice introgression lines.

Golden Rice with β-carotene in the grain helps to address the problem of vitamin A deficiency. Prior to commercialize Golden Rice, several performance and regulatory checkpoints must be achieved. We report results of marker assisted backcross breeding of the GR2E trait into three popular rice varieties followed by a series of confined field tests of event GR2E introgression lines to assess their agronomic performance and carotenoid expression.

Molecular characterization and safety assessment of biofortified provitamin A rice.

Part of the studies involved in safety assessment of genetically engineered crops includes characterizing the organization, integrity, and stability of the inserted DNA and evaluating the potential allergenicity and toxicity of newly-expressed proteins. Molecular characterization of the introduced DNA in provitamin A biofortified rice event GR2E confirmed insertion of a single copy of the transfer-DNA in the genome and its inheritance as a single locus. Nucleotide sequencing of the inserted DNA confirmed it was introduced without modifications.

Compositional Analysis of Genetically Engineered GR2E "Golden Rice" in Comparison to That of Conventional Rice.

Compositional analyses were performed on samples of rice grain, straw, and derived bran obtained from golden rice event GR2E and near-isogenic control PSBRc82 rice grown at four locations in the Philippines during 2015 and 2016. Grain samples were analyzed for key nutritional components, including proximates, fiber, polysaccharides, fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and antinutrients. Samples of straw and bran were analyzed for proximates and minerals.