Gene flow between crops and their wild relatives

Gene flow between crops and their wild relatives

Gene flow from domesticated plants to free-growing relatives was a rather trivial issue before the advent of transgenic crops. Gene flow into crops was relatively more important, especially to plant breeders trying to introduce new genes in a crop, or to breeders and seed growers wanting to ensure the genetic purity of a cultivar. Genes can now be transferred from bacteria, or potentially any p...

Gene Flow Between Crops and Their Wild Progenitors

Gene flow occurs when there is migration of individuals (e.g., seeds) or gametes (e.g., pollen) between populations. Along with drift, selection, and mutation, it represents one of the main evolutionary forces causing changes in gene frequencies. The main effect of gene flow is the reduction of differentiation between populations accompanied by a parallel increase in differences between individ...

Impact of transgene inheritance on the mitigation of gene flow 1 between crops and their wild relatives : the example of foxtail 2 millet 3 4 5 6

Impact of transgene inheritance on the mitigation of gene flow between crops and their wild relatives: the example of foxtail millet.

Developing genetically modified crop plants that are biologically contained could reduce significantly the potential spread of transgenes to conventional and organic crop plants and to wild or weedy relatives. Among several strategies, the hereditary mode of transmission of transgenes, whether dominant, recessive, or maternal, could play a major role in interspecific gene flow. Here we report o...

Quantifying Gene Flow from Oilseed Rape to Its Wild Relatives

EXTENDED ABSTRACT Gene flow is defined as the movement of genes between populations and is a naturally occurring phenomenon among sexually compatible individuals. Crops have exchanged genes with their wild and weedy relatives for centuries, however this process has recently caused concern. The rapid advances in genetic engineering have hit an immense wall of opposition and gene flow is now seen...