Bt Brinjal The scope and adequacy of the GEAC environmental risk assessment

Environmental Risk Assessment 27Brinjal is not known to hybridise successfully with anyBox 5Some important synonymiesspecies of Solanum outside of the subgenus Leptostemonum.Hybridisation within the subgenus probably occurs morereadily between brinjal and its more closely related species,however, because the taxonomy of the subgenus is onlyTable B3-1. Some species synonymies. S. indicum Roxb. andSolanum tomentosum Herb. Hasselt. ex Miq.and all names underS. torvum are invalid names. Data from SS (2010)now beginning to be understood using modern phylogenicValid species name Synonymsmethods, it is not yet possible to know the relationships ofSolanum melongena L. Solanum insanum L.Solanum oviferum Salisb.all of the species to brinjal.Solanum ovigerum DunalTo determine if there are possible risks associatedSolanum esculentum DunalSolanum edule Schumach. & Thonn.with gene flow to wild relatives, it is essential that a riskSolanum aethiopicum var.assessment identify the possible recipient species. EC-II,violaceum DunalSolanum aethiopicum L. Solanum gilo Raddi.the Dossier and the Supplemental Materials do not identifySolanum integrifolium Poir.the possible recipient species. This hampers their ability toSolanum anomalum Thonn. Solanum warneckeanum Dammerconduct a valid risk assessment of the gene flow risks.Solanum lescrauwaetii De Wild.Weediness risks can be assessed by identifying wildrelatives that have the potential to become weedy. Themost logical relatives are those that may already be weedy.Solanum grandiflorumRuiz & Pav.Solanum marquesii DammerSolanum macranthum DunalThis has not been considered in EC-II, the Dossier, or theSupplemental Materials.Solanum incanum L. Solanum unguiculatum A.Rich.Solanum melongena var. incanum(L.) KuntzeSpecies that are invasive in India, or that have recently Solanum macrocarpon L. Solanum dimorphum Matsum.invaded may be actual or potential weeds. Several speciesSolanum atropo Schumach. & Thonn.Solanum mors-elephantum Dammannin Leptostemonum are possibly or probably naturalisedSolanum torvum Sw. Solanum campechiense Hort.or introduced into India (Box 4). These include SolanumSolanum maccai Berterocapsicoides All., Solanum chrysotrichum Schltdl., SolanumSolanum mammosum Herb.forskalii Dunal, Solanum hirtum Vahl, Solanum robustum Solanum undatum Lam. Solanum cumingii DunalSolanum tomentosumH.L.Wendl., and Solanum viarum Dunal. In addition,Herb. Hasselt. ex Miq.Solanum sisymbrifolium has probably been introduced into Solanum violaceum Ortega Solanum indicum L.India. Any of these species could be weedy or have theirSolanum kurzii Brace ex PrainSolanum chinense Dunalweediness enhanced by the Bt gene in Bt brinjal. This riskSolanum pubescens var. lobatumhas not been adequately assessed and should be assessed.C.B.ClarkeSolanum indicum Roxb.Other gene flow risks can be partially assessed firstSolanum virginianum L. Solanum virginicum L.by examining the potential for hybrid formation. SeveralSolanum mairei H.Lév.species in the subgenus Leptostemonum are known to formSolanum xanthocarpumSchrad. & J.C.Wendl.fertile hybrids with S. melongena (Box 6). These includeSolanum surattense Burm.close relatives, S. incanum and S. violaceum, but alsomuch more distant species, including S. macrocarpon, S. aethiopicum and S. virginianum. Four additional species, which arephylogenically even more distant from S. melongena, are also known to form fertile hybrids. Given the uncertainty associatedwith the phylogenic relationships within the subgenus, it is not feasible to predict which species in the subgenus can and cannotform fertile hybrids with S. melongena without testing each species.Cross-compatibility experiments are known to be notoriously difficult. Singh (2009?) notes that successful hybridisationis lowest when hand-pollination is used and highest when the natural pollinators are allowed to visit flowers. IIVR (2007a,b) rely on hand pollination to estimate hybridisation rates, so their results should be considered an underestimate of the truerate of hybridisation. IIVR (2007a) reports on interspecific hybridisation rates with five species of Solanum. The exact speciesused in these tests is not precisely known, because IIVR (2007a, b) did not report full taxonomic information about thesespecies. Presumably, the species in IIVR (2007a) were Solanum incanum L., Solanum violaceum Ortega, Solanum sisymbrifoliumLam., Solanum torvum Sw., and Solanum nigrum L. IIVR (2007b) examined only Solanum incanum L. The results for S.