Références sur les Plantes

responsible for specific expression at the valve margin. In addition we have taken a comparative development approach to demonstrate that the BraA.IND.a and BolC.IND.a genes from B. rapa and B. oleracea share identical function with Arabidopsis IND since ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS) mutant alleles and silenced transgenic lines have valve margin defects. Furthermore we show that the degree of these defects can be finetuned for crop improvement. Wild-type Arabidopsis produces an outer replum composed of about six cell files at the medial region of the fruits, whereas Brassica fruits lack this tissue. A strong loss-of-function braA.ind.a mutant gained outer replum tissue in addition to its defect in valve margin development. An enlargement of replum size was also observed in the Arabidopsis ind mutant suggesting a general role of Brassicaceae IND genes in preventing valve margin cells from adopting replum identity.

Notes: Cited Reference Count: 48 ref.

URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2010.04244.x/abstract Author Address: 1Department of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre, Colney Lane, Norwich NR4 7UH, UKingdom 2Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0116, USA 3Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Author: GMO Compass Year: 2010 Title: ££ EU report puts forward isolation distances for GM maize.

Journal: GMO Compass : http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/home/ Label: InRe Dispersion Reglement Abstract: Full text : (29 September 2010) On this week's meeting of the Agricultural Council of the EU, the Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli presented a Best Practice Document for the cultivation of GM maize. The report was drawn up by the European Coexistence Bureau to propose measures that avoid the mixing of GM and conventional maize.

According to Dalli, the report is meant to help Member States in developing their own coexistence guidelines – in July the Commission had come forward with a proposal to nationalise the cultivation decision of GM crops.

At the meeting several Member States criticised this move, though.

The measures suggested by the Coexistence Bureau relate to the storage of the seeds and, above all, to spatial isolation distances as best ways to limit or avoid co-mingling of maize from different cultivation systems. Even if the Best Practice Document is non-binding, Dalli explained that these measures "are in full accordance with the spirit and aims of the proposal" to devolve the definition of coexistence policies to Member States and to provide them with more flexibility to do so.

In compiling the report the Coexistence Bureau has not only drawn upon numerous scientific trials, studies and models covering different regions in the EU, it has also collaborated with 20 experts that were nominated by interested Member States. This work has resulted in sets of isolation distances that reduce cross-pollination between GM and non-GM maize and ensure compliance with different target levels for the presence of GMOs in conventional maize.

To keep the GMO content in grain maize below the current labelling threshold of 0.9 percent, isolation distances of 15 to 50 meters are sufficient, even under unfavourable wind conditions. For silage maize, where the whole plants are utilised, isolation distances of 0 to 25 metres are enough. Given that currently no thresholds have been defined yet for the admixture of GM material in conventional seeds, the isolation distances for the cultivation of GM maize may need to be larger in future to ensure adherence to the overall legal threshold of 0.9 percent. For instance, for grain maize distances of 20-55 metres would be enough to limit cross-pollination rates to 0.6 percent.

However, the report also states that in specific cases the application of the recommended best practices may be difficult, e.g. in regions with small or narrow fields. In such cases the experts of the Coexistence Bureau see possible solutions e.g. in voluntary agreements between farmers on harvest labelling and the clustering of fields of one production system.

No regulation of coexistence at the national level?

At the same meeting of the EU's Agricultural Council a majority of Member States objected to the Commission's proposal to nationalise the cultivation decision of GM crops. Among the opposing Member