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

60 Bt Brinjal: The GEAC environmental risk assessmentSequencing the Needed RiskAssessment ActivitiesAlthough the GEAC and Mahyco have already invested considerable time and effort into environmental risk assessment (ERA)for EE-1 hybrid Bt brinjal, much of the effort was misdirected and did not assess actual adverse environmental consequencesin India. The needs for ERA that are outlined here are developed with an eye towards improving oversight of geneticallyengineered crops in India, and redirecting efforts to issues that actually matter to India.Addressing these needs will provide a sound scientific basis for assessing these more serious issues. The needs are compiledhere in abbreviated form from the separate sections above, listed according to section and preserving the original numberingfor easier cross-reference. An expanded description including some rationale is provided in the previous sections, which theinterested reader may consult.Characterisation of Transgene – Inserted Transgene1. Probe sensitivity. Provide the size and sequence of the Bt probe and identify the part of the transgene to which it isexpected to bind.2. Transgene number. Use additional probes to explore for incorporated transgene fragments associated with other parts ofthe brinjal genome.3. Transgene sequence. Sequence the inserted transgene and any other inserted fragments identified in 1) and 2).4. Flanking regions. Sequence the regions flanking the inserted transgene (and transgene fragments).5. Gene disruption. Identify the brinjal DNA in the flanking regions and determine if it is associated with a potentiallyfunctioning brinjal gene.Characterisation of Transgene – Transgene Expression1. Amino acid sequence. Provide the amino acid sequence of the expressed Ccry1A protein.2. Ccry1A expression. Quantify expression levels of Ccry1A in pollen.3. Marker expression. Quantify expression levels of antibiotic marker genes.4. Heterologous system. Develop a heterologous expression system to produce sufficient quantities of Ccry1A that can beused for risk assessment research.Environmental Risk Assessment – Gene Flow and Its Consequences1. Fitness of intraspecific hybrids and backcrosses. Quantify the relative fitness of hybrids and backcrosses between Bt brinjaland brinjal landraces, and between Bt brinjal and intraspecific wild relatives, such as S. melongena insanum.2. Identification of wild relatives. Determine if there are additional species of Leptostemonum that occur in India.3. Hybridisation. Determine which identified wild relatives are known not to hybridise with brinjal.4. Overlap. For the species that remain from 3), determine overlap of flowering time and geographic distribution withbrinjal.5. Cross-compatibility. For species with potential overlap, experimentally evaluate cross-compatibility and explainingexperimentally any discrepancies with previously published results.6. Fitness of interspecific hybrids and backcrosses. For cross-compatible species, quantify the relative fitness of hybrids andbackcrosses between Bt brinjal and these species.7. Gene flow rates. Additional gene flow experiments are not recommended.8. Identify pests of wild relatives. Determine whether brinjal fruit and shoot borer (BFSB) or other susceptible lepidopteranspecies feed on wild or weedy relatives of brinjal.