Abstract Detail

Conservation Biology

Dong, Jingjing [1], Zhang, Minggang [2], Wang, Yinghao [1], Wei, Wei [3], Ma, Keping [1].

GIS assessment of gene flow risk from Brassica napus to its wild relatives in China.

Gene flow risk from Brassica napus to its wild relative species was used as an example to evaluate the gene flow risk of transgenic crops in this study. There is a large cultivation area of B. napus and widely occurrence of its wild species in China, it is important to assess the potential risk of gene flow from B. napus to its wild relatives. Data of canola cultivation and its wild relative species distribution in China were collected and analyzed using Geographic Information System (GIS). B. juncea and B. rapa are the most common weedy Brassica species in China, which are both compatible with canola. Based on biological and phonological evidence, our results show that gene flow risk exists in most of the country, especially in places with higher richness of wild Brassica species biodiversity, while risk in dominant canola cultivation regions is relatively low due to low distribution density of wild plants in these regions. Western China has been assumed as the original center of B. juncea, gene flow may lead to negative effects on biodiversity conservation of local species. In agricultural setting, gene flow may introduce selectively advantageous traits to weedy relatives, e.g. B. juncea, and result in difficulty in weed control after the commercial release of transgenetic canola.

1 - Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2 - Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University
3 - 20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing, N/A, 100093, China

Keywords:
gene flow
Species distribution
risk
wild relatives.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 63
Location: Salon 19/20/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2015
Time: 10:45 AM
Number: 63010
Abstract ID:665
Candidate for Awards:None