Transportability of confined field trial data for environmental risk assessment of genetically engineered plants: a conceptual framework.

It is commonly held that confined field trials (CFTs) used to evaluate the potential adverse environmental impacts of a genetically engineered (GE) plant should be conducted in each country where cultivation is intended, even when relevant and potentially sufficient data are already available from studies conducted elsewhere. The acceptance of data generated in CFTs "out of country" can only be realized in practice if the agro-climatic zone where a CFT is conducted is demonstrably representative of the agro-climatic zones in those geographies to which the data will be transported. In an attempt to elaborate this idea, a multi-disciplinary Working Group of scientists collaborated to develop a conceptual framework and associated process that can be used by the regulated and regulatory communities to support transportability of CFT data for environmental risk assessment (ERA).

Recommendations for the design of laboratory studies on non-target arthropods for risk assessment of genetically engineered plants.

This paper provides recommendations on experimental design for early-tier laboratory studies used in risk assessments to evaluate potential adverse impacts of arthropod-resistant genetically engineered (GE) plants on non-target arthropods (NTAs). While we rely heavily on the currently used proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) in this discussion, the concepts apply to other arthropod-active proteins. A risk may exist if the newly acquired trait of the GE plant has adverse effects on NTAs when they are exposed to the arthropod-active protein.

Improved RNA Extraction from Woody Plants for the Detection of Viral Pathogens by Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction.

An efficient procedure for the extraction of high-quality RNA from woody plants without the use of phenol, organic solvents, or alcohol precipitation is described. The method employs commercially available spin-column matrices and mitigates the inhibitory effects of plant polysaccharides and polyphenolic compounds commonly observed on subsequent polymerase chain reaction amplification when conventional extraction methods are applied to woody plant species. The method described has been successfully used in the development of highly sensitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) techniques for the detection of a number of viruses in their woody hosts.