Field Supervisory Test of DREB-Transgenic Populus: Salt Tolerance, Long-Term Gene Stability and Horizontal Gene Transfer

Improving saline resistance may be useful for reducing environmental susceptibility and improving yields in poplar plantations. However, the instability of genetically engineered traits and gene transfer reduce their usefulness and commercial value. To investigate whether the foreign gene is still present in the genome of receptor plants after seven years (i.e., long-term foreign gene stability and gene transfer), we randomly analyzed ten field-grown transgenic hybrid Populus ((Populus tomentosa × Populus bolleana) × P. tomentosa) carrying the DREB1 gene from Atriplex hortensis. The results of PCR and tissue culture experiments showed that AhDREB1 was present in the transgenic trees and was still expressed. However, the transcriptional expression level had decreased compared with that four years earlier. The PCR results also indicated no foreign gene in the genomic DNA of microorganisms in the soil near the transgenic poplars, indicating that no OPEN ACCESS Forests 2014, 5 1107 significant gene transfer had occurred from the transgenic poplars to the microorganisms at seven years after planting.