Radish as a Model System for the Study of Engineered Gene Escape Rates Via Crop-Weed Mating

Abstract: Engineered genes in transgenic crops may escape into the ambient environment via crop-weed hybridization However, natural crop-weed muting rates (gene flow) are largely unknown We measured mating between wild and cultivated radishes in an experiment that simulated natural stands around seed multiplication plots. We used a genetic marker to identify, crop-weed muting events. Although weeds at the cultivar plot margin (1 m distance) received much more gene flow than distant plants, detectable gene flow occurred at our most distant site (1000 m). For insect-pollinated outcrossing crops like radish, strategies other than distance must be employed to ensure complete isolation.