Abstract
Large-scale cultivation of plants expressing viral genes raises several ecological questions, including: where are sexually compatible cultivar, weed, and wild plant populations of the virus-influenced plant? where is the virus (naturally) present and how long has the virus been there? which populations might the virus invade in the future? how much is the virus (or the potential recombinant and heterologous encapsidated virus relative) able to decrease the fitness of susceptible plants? what is the potential velocity of gene flow to and gene introgression into weed and wild plant populations? For example, beet (Beta vulgaris) is a crop of particular concern regarding invasiveness because it commonly hybridises with annual forms of wild beet. There is still a significant lack of knowledge about the potential ecological impact of transgenic plants expressing viral sequences. Several disadvantages, but also some advantages, of the spreading of virus resistance genes to non-target plant populations are possible. Virus resistance would be most likely to cause “ecological release” in wild populations if the disease is widespread and has significant effects on plant fitness. In the future, plant breeding activities will develop improved transgenic high-performance cultivars. An ecological inventory and monitoring of wild plant habitats would help to assess the risks of transgenic gene introgression.
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