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Instability of Transgene Expression in Field Grown Tobacco Carrying the csr1-1 Gene for Sulfonylurea Herbicide Resistance

Abstract

In previous greenhouse studies, a transgenic tobacco line carrying the mutant Arabidopsis thaliana acetohydroxyacid synthase gene csr1-1 demonstrated a high level of resistance to the sulfonylurea herbicide chlorsulfuron. In subsequent field trials, hemizygous plants of this line were also resistant, however, up to 59% of homozygous plants were damaged by chlorsulfuron. Damage was correlated with the co-suppression of the csr1-1 transgene and the endogenous tobacco AHAS genes, surA and surB. Co-suppression was triggered by the common agronomic practice of seedling transplantation and therefore could not be predicted from studies performed in growth rooms or greenhouses.

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Brandle, J., McHugh, S., James, L. et al. Instability of Transgene Expression in Field Grown Tobacco Carrying the csr1-1 Gene for Sulfonylurea Herbicide Resistance. Nat Biotechnol 13, 994–998 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0995-994

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