Abstract
Little is known about the consequences of releasing genetically engineered plants (GEP) into the environment. Using opine-producing GEP, we show that transgenic plants alter their biological environment, more precisely the root-associated bacterial populations. The alterations were both transgene-specific and target population-specific. Therefore, assessment studies on the introduction of a given transgene into a GEP will be valid on the given transgene. Evidence of any transgene-associated biological effect will depend on the determination of the pertinent target populations, the identification of which is a key step of such studies.
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Oger, P., Petit, A. & Dessaux, Y. Genetically engineered plants producing opines alter their biological environment. Nat Biotechnol 15, 369–372 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0497-369
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0497-369
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