Conventional Plant Breeding Techniques Research Articles

Generation of major glutelin-deficient (GluA, GluB, and GluC) semi-dwarf Koshihikari rice line.

We generated a new Koshihikari rice line with a drastically reduced content of glutelin proteins and higher lodging resistance by using new and conventional plant breeding techniques. Using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing, we generated mutant rice with drastically decreased contents of major glutelins. A Koshihikari rice mutant line, a123, lacking four glutelins (GluA1, GluA2, GluB4, and GluB5) was used as a host, and another five major glutelin genes (GluA3, GluB1a, GluB1b, GluB2, and GluC) were knocked out through two iterations of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Mutant seeds were deficient in the GluA family, GluB family, and GluC, and the line obtained was named GluABC KO. Glutelin content was much lower in GluABC KO than in the existing low-glutelin rice mutant LGC-1. A null segregant of GluABC KO was selected using new-generation sequencing and backcrossing, and the sd-1 allele for the semi-dwarf trait was introduced to increase lodging resistance.

NOOR-2019: A High-yielding and Marvelous Chickpea Kabuli Variety Developed in Punjab, Pakistan

The advancement of the latest crop varieties with advantageous characteristics is an ongoing process. Over time, a cultivated variety becomes vulnerable to several factors of biotic and abiotic plant stresses. This article discusses creating a novel and inventive chickpea Kabuli variety known as "Noor-2019." This variety was developed using conventional plant breeding techniques to enhance yield capacity, seed form, coloration, and resistance against various diseases. During Rabi 2002-03 period, two local genotypes, namely K-90399 and K-52582 were interbred to induce heredity diversity. After a selection of six generations, a remarkably consistent lineage of Chickpea Kabuli PCK-09012, later denoted as Noor-2019, with pedigree noted as C.15/15/15/105/98/80/12, originated from the F6 generation in 2008-09. Concurrently, this line of Chickpea Kabuli was evaluated for yield potential, disease reaction, and other agronomic studies from 2009 to 2019 at eight different Chickpea growing areas of Punjab. On an average scale, Noor-2019 surpassed the corresponding control groups with a notable margin, displaying a 102.74% increase in PYT and 53.72% improvement in AYT. This specific candidate line exhibited slightly elevated yields, with 0.8% more in MYT and 2.84% increase in CYT. Throughout the national testing phase, this particular variety exhibited its superiority, achieving a 33.26% higher yield during 2014-15 season and 3.61% increase in the subsequent year, compared to the benchmark variety Noor-2013. This remarkable performance culminated in the candidate variant "Noor-19" achieving an impressive yield potential of 1963 kg/ha in the (NUYTs) during 2014-15 period at the Gram Breeding Research Sub Station, Kallurkot. Noor-19 contains 23.19% crude protein and 4.06% crude fat content. Significantly, it achieves higher seed yields and possesses in-built resistance against Fusarium wilt, accompanied by moderate resistance to Ascochyta blight. Furthermore, it shows a commendable tolerance towards insect pests. Notably, the cultivation of this novel variety doesn't necessitate specialized production techniques; instead, it harmonizes seamlessly with existing agronomic methods. Its adaptability extends to irrigated and rain-fed chickpea-growing regions within the province of Punjab.

Breeding techniques to dispense higher genetic gains.

Plant breeding techniques encompass all the processes aimed at improving the genetic characteristics of a crop. It helps in achieving desirable characteristics like resistance to diseases and pests, tolerance to environmental stresses, higher yield and improved quality of the crop. This review article aims to describe and evaluate the current plant breeding techniques and novel methods. This qualitative review employs a comparative approach in exploring the different plant breeding techniques. Conventional plant breeding techniques were compared with modern ones to understand the advancements in plant biotechnology. Backcross breeding, mass selection, and pure-line selection were all discussed in conventional plant breeding for self-pollination and recurrent selection and hybridisation were employed for cross-pollinated crops. Modern techniques comprise of CRISPR Cas-9, high-throughput phenotyping, marker-assisted selection and genomic selection. Further, novel techniques were reviewed to gain more insight. An in-depth analysis of conventional and modern plant breeding has helped gain insight on the advantages and disadvantages of the two. Modern breeding techniques have an upper hand as they are more reliable and less time consuming. It is also more accurate as it is a genotype-based method. However, conventional breeding techniques are cost effective and require less expertise. Modern plant breeding has an upper hand as it uses genomics techniques. Techniques like QTL mapping, marker assisted breeding aid in selection of superior plants right at the seedling stage, which is impossible with conventional breeding. Unlike the conventional method, modern methods are capable of selecting recessive alleles by using different markers. Modern plant breeding is a science and therefore more reliable and accurate.

Genetics and Genomics of Fusarium Wilt of Chilies: A Review

Hot pepper (Capsicum annum L.) is a major spice crop and is used worldwide for its nutritional value. In the field, its plant is susceptible to various fungal diseases, including fusarium wilt, caused by soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. capsici, which can survive in the soil for several years. The infected plant can be recognized by the yellowing of older leaves and downward curling of apical shoots, followed by plant wilting and ultimately the death of the plant. The resistance mechanism in plants is controlled by a single dominant gene, and conventional plant breeding techniques are used to develop a wilt-resistant germplasm. Non-conventional techniques such as gene pyramiding and expression enhancement of antifungal genes could be used to shorten the time to develop resistance against fusarium wilt in hot peppers. In this review, we discuss different aspects of the disease and the molecular basis of resistance in chili/hot pepper plants. Furthermore, this review covers the scope of conventional and non-conventional breeding strategies and different management approaches used to tackle the disease.

Genetic techniques for plant breeding

Genetic techniques for plant breeding

Maize breeding for abiotic stress tolerance: An alternative to face climate changes

Maize breeding faces several challenges when the matter is abiotic stresses. For many years, the focus was to develop genotypes adapted to optimal environmental conditions, however, the need to ensure yields under unsuitable and unstable conditions of a climate-changing world is undeniable. Therefore, this review is addressed to the main abiotic stresses that jeopardize maize production worldwide, presenting an overview regarding losses and impacts imposed by them, stating what has been achieved through conventional and molecular plant breeding techniques, and the future prospects on this subject. The conventional breeding added to molecular techniques bring great expectations for developing abiotic stresses tolerant maize genotypes. Universities and research companies worldwide have contributed to expand and spread basic and essential knowledge, however, the entrance of large multinational companies might revolutionize the field. Genetic modified hybrids and projects of continental coverage will introduce many innovations and alternatives to ensure food security for the increasingly growing world population.

Optimization of kanamycin concentration for screening of primary transformants in pigeonpea

Pigeonpea is an important pulse crop which is widely cultivated throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions. It is the major source of protein for the people with vegetarian diet. Major constraint in pigeonpea is the attack by pod borer. Conventional plant breeding techniques have limitations to develop resistance to the pest due to non-availability of resistance in the available germplasm. Therefore genetic engineering tools can be employed to transfer foreign genes into pigeonpea to impart pod borer resistance. Development of a reliable regeneration system coupled with efficient transformation has been a major limitation in developing transgenic pigeonpea with useful genes. In planta is an alternative approach to obtain transformed plants in short duration without involving tissue culture regeneration. However major limitations with this approach is screen more number of seeds to identify putative transformants which is time consuming and expensive. Therefore the present investigation was carried out to optimize the concentration of kanamycin for quick identification of putative transformants carrying cry1Ac and npt II using sand based assay. Seeds of Asha and BSMR736 were soaked in different concentrations of kanamycin (10-100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 ppm) for 5hrs and later sown in sand based medium. There was no effect of kanamycin on seedling growth up to 60 ppm and decrease in survival percentage in both the genotypes beyond this concentration. There was significant differences in growth of the seedlings in terms of shoot and root length at 100 ppm and beyond. Therefore this concentration was used to screen seeds of 32 primary transformants carrying cry1Ac and npt II and subjected to gene specific PCR analysis to confirm the usability of simple screening on kanamycin based sand medium for the identification of true transgenic plants. However some discrepancies between the growth inhibition and PCR results were observed.

APPLICATION OF BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR ADDRESSING FOOD SECURITY IN GHANA

The contribution of the Horticultural farming for Ghana economy is that it produces horticultural products which generate income for poor farmers and foreign reserves for the country by means of exporting products. With appropriate policies and technologies like biotechnology, horticulture increases the incomes of smallholder farmers, enhancing rural development. Conventional plant breeding techniques have made considerable progress in the development of improved varieties of horticultural products, there is still room for major improvement which can be achieved using the biotechnology. There is the need to integrate biotechnology to speed up crop improvement programs. Biotechnological tools have revolutionized the entire crop improvement programs by providing new strains of plants, supply of planting material, more efficient and selective pesticides and improved fertilizers. This study assesses the relationship between horticultural farming, biotechnology and food security. The impact of biotechnology on the welfare of smallholder farmers is also assessed. The paper concludes that the role of biotechnology in food security in Ghana cannot be overemphasized but still has a long way to go. Agricultural production and productivity problems in developing countries like Ghana go beyond technological solutions alone; already existing challenges of smallholder farmers should be addressed first. Biotechnology could however contribute to sustainable development by increasing agricultural productivity using new breeding techniques. It can also increase the revenues in agricultural production.

Defense Proteins from Sugarcane Studied by Conventional Biochemical Techniques, Genomics and Proteomics: An Overview

Sugarcane is a C4 plant from the NADP-ME family, which performs a double photosynthetic carboxylation. It is a plant specialized in accumulating and storing large amounts of sucrose in the parenchymatous cells of its stalks. Perhaps because of these characteristics, this species shows to be extremely sensitive to a large number of diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, phytoplasmas, fungi, insects and nematodes, as well as to various abiotic stresses. A large number of varieties and cultivars resistant to many of these diseases have been achieved through conventional plant breeding techniques and also through biotechnological applications. In addition to this, the ability of the plant itself to produce pathogen resistance factors has been a field of research that has provided excellent weapons to combat crop-destroying pests This review describes those proteins that are synthesized by the plant as resistance factors against different diseases from the point of view of conventional biochemistry and also with the tools that modern genomics and proteomics provide. Special emphasis has been placed on the study of those proteins aimed at increasing the physical resistance of the plant that hinders the entry of the pathogen as well as those proteins related to the synthesis of bioactive phenols, polysaccharide hydrolysis enzymes, bacteriocins, oxygenases, oxidases and oxido-reductases.

Male Sterility and its Commercial Exploitation in Hybrid Seed Production of Vegetable Crops: A Review

Male sterility is described as absence of functional pollen grains in hermaphrodite flowers facilitating large scale production of hybrid seeds in vegetable crops. It eases hybrid seed production at commercial level in crops like tomato, chilli, capsicum, carrot, onion, cabbage, cauliflower and cucurbits. Male sterility would reduce the cost of hybrid seed production by limiting the labour making it efficient and economical. Incorporation of biotechnological tools in conventional plant breeding techniques would aid the breeders in limiting the drawbacks surrounding exploitation of male sterility for development of new hybrids. The present review is an attempt to summarize and to know the commercial utilization of male sterile line in hybrid seed production of vegetables.

The BiZiFED project: Biofortified zinc flour to eliminate deficiency in Pakistan.

Zinc deficiency is a global public health problem, affecting ~17% of the world's population, with the greatest burden in low‐ and middle‐income countries. An increasing body of evidence suggests that biofortification may be a cost‐effective and sustainable approach to reducing zinc and other micronutrient deficiencies. Biofortification enhances the nutritional quality of food crops through conventional plant breeding techniques and agronomic practices. This paper presents ongoing research on biofortification in Pakistan, where over 40% of women are zinc deficient. The Biofortified Zinc Flour to Eliminate Deficiency (BiZiFED) project aims to investigate the impact of biofortification as a strategy to alleviate zinc deficiency in Pakistan. The project is supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Global Challenges Research Fund from May 2017 to April 2019. This paper outlines the four objectives and work packages within the BiZiFED project: (1) a double‐blind, randomised controlled trial to examine the effect of consuming flour made from a high zinc variety of biofortified wheat (Zincol‐2016/NR‐421) on dietary zinc intake and status; (2) a cost‐effectiveness study to assess the health and economic impact of agronomic biofortification of wheat; (3) a mixed methods study to explore the cultural acceptability and sustainability of biofortification in Pakistan; (4) capacity building and development of long‐term research partnerships in Pakistan. The findings will contribute to the evidence base for the potential impact of biofortification to alleviate zinc deficiency among the poorest communities.

Chilli leaf curl virus disease: a serious threat for chilli cultivation

Chilli pepper or hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.,) is an important spice and vegetable crop of family Solanaceae. Chilli is susceptible to various pathogens involving viruses, which cause heavy production losses. So far 65 viruses have been reported throughout the world including begomoviruses causing chilli leaf curl virus disease (ChiLCVD). ChiLCVD is the most destructive virus disease in terms of incidence and yield loss. The disease can be identified by typical upward leaf curling, crinkling, puckering and reduction in leaf area along with stunting of whole plants. It is transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci in persistent manner. Conventional plant breeding techniques remain the major antiviral strategy so far for the development of resistant chilli varieties. Recently, the concern about viral DNA methylation, activation of gene silencing machinery and ubiquitination-mediated defence against begomoviruses has been reported. Although a number of insecticides had been effectively used to manage this pest in the past, it is able to develop resistance very rapidly. This review provides an overview of ChiLCVD, virus vector relationship, its genome organization, replication, resistant sources, present status of its spread in different regions of India and strategies employed for controlling it.

Enhancing food security in arid areas of Pakistan through newly developed drought tolerant and short duration mustard (Brassica juncea L.) Canola

Food security is the crucial global issue, especially in developing countries like Pakistan. Since edible oil is an essential food item, its persistent paucity in the country and huge import for meeting domestic requirements, has attained it second largest import item after petroleum products. The aim of present study is qualitative and quantitative evaluation of newly developed short duration and drought tolerant canola quality Brassica juncea lines ZBJ-06012 and ZBJ-08051 to overcome the unfavorable edible oil situation in the country. Thirteen lines were evaluated in randomized complete block design (RCBD) for seed yield, oil quality, maturity period and drought tolerance under different agro-climatic zones both in irrigated and arid areas across the Punjab province at eight locations in Micro Yield Trials during Rabi season 2012-13 and 2013-14. Presently, grown non-canola mustard varieties Khanpur Raya and Anmol Raya were used as check varieties. Brassica napus cultivars Punjab canola and Faisal canola were also included in the trials for comparison study of mustard and rapeseed genotypes. Data for all traits under observation was analyzed through Principle Component Analysis (PCA) to evaluate the best performing lines in irrigated as well as in rain fed areas. Principal Component Analysis showed first 2 PCs having Eigen value >1 explaining 76.4% and 72% of the total variation at irrigated areas and rain fed areas respectively. The mean seed yield was also compared by Least Significant Difference (LSD) test to study the significance at 5% probability level. Canola quality B. juncea lines ZBJ-06012 and ZBJ-08051 have shown good adaptability, early maturity, non-shattering, disease and drought tolerance traits with high yield potential in comparison with presently grown Brassica napus cultivars ?Punjab Canola? and ?Faisal Canola?. Due to these prominent features, these lines have a great scope for motivating farmers to grow canola quality B. juncea when compared with B. napus and non-canola B. juncea. Future challenges demand further development of high yielding, short duration and aphid tolerant mustard cultivars having high oil content and canola quality. There is a great potential of exploiting genetic variability in the existing B. juncea material to achieve the aforesaid goals by using conventional plant breeding techniques.

Interspecific Crossing between Yam Species (<i>Dioscorea rotundata</i> and <i>Dioscorea bulbifera</i>) through in Vitro Ovule Culture

In the present study, in vitro ovule culture technique was used to obtain interspecific cross combination of Dioscorea rotundata ufenyi and Dioscorea bulbifera wild. Ten days after pollination, ovules were excised and cultured onto 1/2 strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium (Basal salt mixture + Vitamins) supplemented with 6% sucrose, 0.7% agar and plant growth hormones such as GA3, BAP, Picrolam and TDZ. Cultured ovules were transferred on 1/2 MS medium with 3% sucrose and 0.7% agar after three weeks. 40 days after pollination, germination was observed from 7 months cultured ovule between D. rotundata ufenyi x D. bulbifera wild. Hybridity of the regenerated plant was checked by flow cytometric method. A close relation was observed between the fluorescence intensity of the obtained progeny with one of the parents’ fluorescence. The observed progeny can be closely correlated with an apomictic tissue from an ovule parent of D. rotundata ufenyi. Plantlets derived from ovule culture were proliferated through in vitro shoot multiplication with hormonal concentration (0.5 mg/l BAP) supplemented with 1/2 strength MS medium. Obtained ovule culture derived in vitro plantlets were successfully hardened, acclimatized and transferred to the field, where they survived and grew normally. In plant breeding, interspecific crossing is very important technique, enabling the time needed to produce homozygous lines to be shortened as compared to the conventional plant breeding techniques.

Biofortification: High zinc wheat programme – The potential agricultural options for alleviating malnutrition in Pakistan

<p>The deficiency of micronutrients (zinc, iron, iodine and vitamin A) is persistently afflicting millions of people living across Africa, Southern Americas, Asia and Pakistan. Among these, the zinc deficiency syndrome is occurring by 47.6, 41.3, and 39.2% in pregnant, non-pregnant and children under 5 years, respectively in Pakistan. The reason being that majority of the people subsists on cereal-based diets, i.e., wheat. The commercially grown wheat varieties contain zinc about 25 mg/g, whereas about 40 mg/g zinc is required in daily diet.</p><p>The potential risk of zinc deficiency could be mitigated through certain interventions i.e., mineral drugs, food supplements, diversity in diets, production of fortified foods, and genetic biofortification of staple food crops. Among these, quantum increase in zinc content in wheat grains through genetic manipulation would be basics to alleviate zinc deficiency in the malnourished communities. The objective of the programme is to enhance the concentration of zinc nutrient from 25 to 40 mg/g in wheat grains through conventional plant breeding techniques.</p>Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad in collaboration with Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and HarvestPlus, Pakistan started R&D works to develop biofortified high zinc wheat varieties containing around 40 mg/g in the year 2009. The biofortified wheat crop is developed through conventional plant breeding techniques. The germplasm inherited with high zinc nutrient are crossed with high yielding and adopted to ecological conditions. The varieties are high yielding, and inheriting zinc around 40 mg/g in the grains under both irrigated and rainfed production environments. The Government of Punjab has also given high priority to develop and consume biofortified high zinc wheat in its multi-sectoral Nutrition Strategy Plan 2015, as potential agricultural option to address malnutrition in the Punjab province.

Biofortification: High zinc wheat programme – The potential agricultural options for alleviating malnutrition in Pakistan

<p>The deficiency of micronutrients (zinc, iron, iodine and vitamin A) is persistently afflicting millions of people living across Africa, Southern Americas, Asia and Pakistan. Among these, the zinc deficiency syndrome is occurring by 47.6, 41.3, and 39.2% in pregnant, non-pregnant and children under 5 years, respectively in Pakistan. The reason being that majority of the people subsists on cereal-based diets, i.e., wheat. The commercially grown wheat varieties contain zinc about 25 mg/g, whereas about 40 mg/g zinc is required in daily diet.</p><p>The potential risk of zinc deficiency could be mitigated through certain interventions i.e., mineral drugs, food supplements, diversity in diets, production of fortified foods, and genetic biofortification of staple food crops. Among these, quantum increase in zinc content in wheat grains through genetic manipulation would be basics to alleviate zinc deficiency in the malnourished communities. The objective of the programme is to enhance the concentration of zinc nutrient from 25 to 40 mg/g in wheat grains through conventional plant breeding techniques.</p>Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad in collaboration with Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and HarvestPlus, Pakistan started R&D works to develop biofortified high zinc wheat varieties containing around 40 mg/g in the year 2009. The biofortified wheat crop is developed through conventional plant breeding techniques. The germplasm inherited with high zinc nutrient are crossed with high yielding and adopted to ecological conditions. The varieties are high yielding, and inheriting zinc around 40 mg/g in the grains under both irrigated and rainfed production environments. The Government of Punjab has also given high priority to develop and consume biofortified high zinc wheat in its multi-sectoral Nutrition Strategy Plan 2015, as potential agricultural option to address malnutrition in the Punjab province.

Current knowledge in lentil genomics and its application for crop improvement.

Most of the lentil growing countries face a certain set of abiotic and biotic stresses causing substantial reduction in crop growth, yield, and production. Until-to date, lentil breeders have used conventional plant breeding techniques of selection-recombination-selection cycle to develop improved cultivars.These techniques have been successful in mainstreaming some of the easy-to-manage monogenic traits. However, in case of complex quantitative traits, these conventional techniques are less precise. As most of the economic traits are complex, quantitative, and often influenced by environments and genotype–environment interaction, the genetic improvement of these traits becomes difficult. Genomics assisted breeding is relatively powerful and fast approach to develop high yielding varieties more suitable to adverse environmental conditions. New tools such as molecular markers and bioinformatics are expected to generate new knowledge and improve our understanding on the genetics of complex traits. In the past, the limited availability of genomic resources in lentil could not allow breeders to employ these tools in mainstream breeding program.The recent application of the next generation sequencing and genotyping by sequencing technologies has facilitated to speed up the lentil genome sequencing project and large discovery of genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Currently, several linkage maps have been developed in lentil through the use of expressed sequenced tag (EST) derived simple sequence repeat (SSR) and SNP markers.These maps have emerged as useful genomic resources to identify quantitative trait loci imparting tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses in lentil. In this review, the current knowledge on available genomic resources and its application in lentil breeding program are discussed.

Chilli leaf curl virus infection highlights the differential expression of genes involved in protein homeostasis and defense in resistant chilli plants.

Geminiviruses have evolved with tremendous potential of recombination and possess the ability to manipulate several cellular processes of hosts. Chilli leaf curl virus (ChiLCV) is a monopartite Begomovirus (family Geminiviridae) which has emerged as a serious threat to chilli production worldwide. To date, development of resistant chilli varieties through conventional plant breeding techniques remains the major antiviral strategy. To explore the potential resistance factors in Capsicum annuum var. Punjab Lal, we performed a transcriptome analysis in ChiLCV-infected plants by exploiting the advantage of sensitivity and efficiency of suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH). Out of 480 clones screened, 231 unique expressed sequence tags (ESTs) involved in different cellular and physiological processes were identified. An interactome network of ChiLCV responsive differentially expressed genes revealed an array of proteins involved in key cellular processes including transcription, replication, photosynthesis, and defense. A comparative study of gene expression between resistant and susceptible chilli plants revealed upregulation of several defense-related genes such as nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) domain containing protein, lipid transfer protein, thionin, polyphenol oxidase, and other proteins like ATP/ADP transporter in the ChiLCV-resistant variety. Taken together, the present study provides novel insights into the transcriptomics of ChiLCV-resistant chilli plants.

Scientific opinion addressing the safety assessment of plants developed using Zinc Finger Nuclease 3 and other site-directed Nucleases with similar function

The European Commission requested that the EFSA Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms deliver a scientific opinion related to risk assessment of plants developed using the zinc finger nuclease 3 technique (ZFN-3) which allows the integration of gene(s) in a predefined insertion site in the genome of the recipient species. Since other nucleases with a similar function to ZFN are considered in this opinion the term site-directed nuclease 3 (SDN-3) is used to describe the technique rather than ZFN-3 specifically. The EFSA GMO Panel considers that its guidance documents are applicable for the evaluation of food and feed products derived from plants developed using the SDN-3 technique and for performing an environmental risk assessment. However, on a case-by-case basis lesser amounts of event specific data may be needed for the risk assessment of plants developed using the SDN-3 technique. The EFSA GMO Panel compared the hazards associated with plants produced by the SDN-3 technique with those obtained by conventional plant breeding techniques and by currently used transgenesis. With respect to the genes introduced, the SDN-3 technique does not differ from transgenesis or from the other genetic modification techniques currently used, and can be used to introduce transgenes, intragenes or cisgenes. The main difference between the SDN-3 technique and transgenesis is that the insertion of DNA is targeted to a predefined region of the genome. Therefore, the SDN-3 technique can minimise hazards associated with the disruption of genes and/or regulatory elements in the recipient genome. Whilst the SDN-3 technique can induce off-target changes in the genome of the recipient plant these would be fewer than those occurring with most mutagenesis techniques. Furthermore, where such changes occur they would be of the same types as those produced by conventional breeding techniques.

Scientific opinion addressing the safety assessment of plants developed through cisgenesis and intragenesis

The European Commission requested that the EFSA Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms deliver a scientific opinion related to risk assessment of cisgenic and intragenic plants. The EFSA GMO Panel considers that the Guidance for risk assessment of food and feed from genetically modified plants and the Guidance on the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants are applicable for the evaluation of food and feed products derived from cisgenic and intragenic plants and for performing an environmental risk assessment and do not need to be developed further. It can be envisaged that on a case-by-case basis lesser amounts of eventspecific data are needed for the risk assessment. The EFSA GMO Panel compared the hazards associated with plants produced by cisgenesis and intragenesis with those obtained either by conventional plant breeding techniques or by transgenesis. The Panel concludes that similar hazards can be associated with cisgenic and conventionally bred plants, while novel hazards can be associated with intragenic and transgenic plants. The Panel is of the opinion that all of these breeding methods can produce variable frequencies and severities of unintended effects. The frequency of unintended changes may differ between breeding techniques and their occurrence cannot be predicted and needs to be assessed case by case. Independent of the breeding method, undesirable phenotypes are generally removed during selection and testing programmes by breeders. The risks to human and animal health and the environment will depend on exposure factors such as the extent to which the plant is cultivated and consumed.