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First national study to quantify GM hybrids across the UK

October 09, 2003

Pioneering research that quantifies cross-fertilisation between crops and their wild relatives will help to assess the risk of hybridisation associated with growing GM crops in the UK, according to a report published today in the journal Science.

The researchers, led by Dr Mike Wilkinson from the University of Reading, carried out the largest survey of its kind to examine hybridisation between commercially grown non-GM oilseed rape crops and Bargeman’s cabbage (also known as the Wild Turnip, Brassica rapa) which are known to frequently cross fertilise.

Using these data, the researchers have been able to predict, for the first time, the number, frequency and location of hybrids likely to occur on a national scale. They report that the numbers of hybrids will fluctuate widely between years, but predict around 32, 000 hybrids annually in wild riverside populations and some17, 000 in weed populations growing in fields across the UK – given current crop numbers.

”Our method for predicting where these hybrids are most likely to occur, combined with continuing research on the consequences of hybridisation, will be a valuable tool in carrying out environmental risk assessments on areas where GM oilseed rape and other GM crops might be grown in the future,” says Dr Wilkinson. “We have known for some time that these two species will hybridise, but until now there has been no way of predicting the total number of hybrids or where they can be found most frequently in the UK,” he says.

A further key finding from the survey confirms that isolation of crops reduces, rather than prevents, gene flow from oilseed rape, even over large distances. The study identifies eastern central England as the region of the UK most likely to contain hybrids and Northern Ireland as the least. The study will also provide a foundation for developing methods of testing other types of crops.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)