Suchergebnisse

In recent years, the concerns of some research teams have focused in development an international strategy for the germplasm collections characterization of important horticultural species, as response to the European Union initiative for inventory and conservation of genetic resources. In this context, the European Union has developed international research projects having as main aim collecting the data and improving knowledge regarding conservation and sustainable use of Vitis genetic resources in Europe. Romania has a multimillenary tradition in grapevine cultivation and wine production. Considering this, it is necessary to use efficient and reliable methods for the accurate identification of autochthonous and newly created grapevine cultivars included in national germplasm collections. The intensive renewals of grapevine plantations, implementation of EU regulations and reshaping of the national viticulture and wine industries, that take place at present in Romania, require application of modern methods for the accurate identification of valuable cultivars. In this paper, the advantages of using DNA markers in identification and characterisation of grape varieties included in Romanian germplasm collections were discussed. The aim of this review was to highlight the importance of molecular markers usage in the studies related the genetic diversity characterisation of this important species.

Since 2000, Romania had in place a legal Biosafety Framework with the objective of protecting human health and the environment, in accordance with the precautionary principle (Government Ordinance 49/2000). In 2000, Romania was the only country in Europe approving market release of two genetically modified (GM) crops: Roundup Ready (RR) soybean and Superior New Leaf potato. GM potato has not been commercialized. On the contrary, RR soybean was grown on thousands of hectares. Romania is one of the few European countries with favourable conditions for soybean production and, in 2006, was one of the nine countries in the world that cultivated this GM crop. As member of the European Union beginning with 2007, Romania must comply with the rules for placing on the market, traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as laid down by EU legislation. Consequently, as of 2007, Roundup Ready soybean cultivation was banned in Romania. Today, Bt-maize expressing the insecticidal protein Cry1Ab from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) in the only GM crop approved for cultivation in the EU. In 2007, Bt hybrids were grown on about 300 ha and in 2009, on about 3000 ha, especially in areas where the lepidopterean target pest caused serious infestations. In this overview, we address the current status of Romanian biosafety legislation, agricultural biotechnology research, deliberate release and commercialization of GM crops. We also present the main stakeholders and their expectations regarding the development of agricultural biotechnology in Romania

GMO testing of foodstuffs represents an important tool for assessing compliance with EU legislation on transgenic plants derived food and feed (Querci et al., 2005). This paper describes the main features of the analytical steps encompassed in the GMO testing procedures performed in our laboratory. Qualitative and quantitative determination of transformation event Bt176 in maize grains is used to exemplify how the methods are employed. Bt176 is no longer approved for commercialization within the EU but represents an adequate example for a case study in this field because of the availability of information and data on the subject. It is also well suited for tests using the instruments in our laboratory. The main analytical steps for GMO testing of raw and processed plant matrices are as follows: obtaining of a representative laboratory sample by employing special strategies; sample preparation (e.g. milling, separation of different fractions) in order to obtain the test sample; DNA extraction using the QIAamp DNA Stool Kit (Qiagen) was used; assessment of the extracted DNA by spectrophotometric readings and agarose gel electrophoresis; qualitative testing based on classical PCR aimed at detection taxon specific or transgenic specific DNA; quantitative testing based on real-time PCR using the RoundUp Ready Soya Qt KIT (Biotools). The analyses were conducted using experimental designs that satisfy all requirements and recommendations for this type of analyses (see ISO 21570:2006; Querci et al., 2005; Foti, 2004). The validation and interpretation of results is also presented.