• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.245-256
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• 2008

The current legislation in South Korea clearly states that the tolerance threshold on the adventitious presence of GMO in environment-friendly agricultural products is 3.0% and no GM seed should be detected in their planting seed batches. To date, in Korea, there is no approved GM crop for commercial cultivation in field. However, several GM crops including rice, Chinese cabbage, potato and wild turf grass are currently under risk assessment for their environmental release. Also Korean government (Rural Development Administration, RDA) announced that 11 institutes including universities have been currently certified to carry out a risk assessment of GM crops. Meanwhile, the cultivated area and certified quantities of environment-friendly crops (organic, pesticide-free and low-pesticide) are sharply increasing every year according to the report of National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service (NAQS). In detail, in 2007, the certified quantities of environment-friendly agricultural products were elevated up to 100-fold for organic, 171-fold for pesticide-free and 2,324-fold for low-pesticide crops when compared with those in 1999. The total certified quantity of environment-friendly cereal crops in 2007 was equivalent to 6.4% of total production of cereal crops. Moreover, 24% of total production of root and tuber crops such as potato and sweet potato were certified for environment-friendly agricultural products. In these circumstances, I strongly suggest that current legislations on GM crop's safety management should be revised to include strategies for the coexistence of GM with non-GM crops, especially environment-friendly crops before GM crop is approved to be cultivated for commercialization. Since all types of crops are grown in an open environment, the adventitious presence of GM crops among non-GM crops is inevitable if appropriate measures for coexistence are not established for species by species such as isolation distance, workable management measures to minimize admixture.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.231-239
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• 2013

BACKGROUND: The disease resistant (OsCK1) rice was generated by inserting choline kinase (CK1) and phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) genes isolated from Oriza sativa and Streptomyces hygroscopicus into the genome of rice (Nakdongbyeo). With the potential problems of safety, the non-target organism evaluation is required as an essential element for the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified (GM) crops. In present study, we studied the effects on survival of Misgurnus anguillicaudatus and Cyprinus carpio, commonly used as a model organism in ecotoxicological studies. METHODS AND RESULTS: The M. anguillicaudatus and C. carpio were fed on disease resistant (OsCK1) rice and non-genetically modified (non-GM) rice (Nakdongbyeo) to 0, 10, 100, 1,000 and 5,000 mg/L, as treatment concentration respectively. The OsCK1 rice used for the test was confirmed to have the OsCK1/PAT gene expression by the PCR and ELISA analysis. Feeding test showed that no significant differences in cumulative immobility and abnormal response of M. anguillicaudatus and C. carpio fed on between OsCK1 rice and non-GM rice. The 96hr-$LC_{50}$ values showed no difference between OsCK1 rice (>5,000 mg/L) and non-GM rice (>5,000 mg/L). CONCLUSION(S): The results of this study suggested that there was no significant difference in toxicity for M. anguillicaudatus and C. carpio between OsCK1 rice and non-GM counterparts.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.95-101
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• 2013

BACKGROUND: Rice (Oryza sativa) is the most important staple food of over half the world's population. This study was conducted to evaluate the possible impact of transgenic rice cultivation on the soil microbial community. METHODS AND RESULTS: Microorganisms were isolated from the rhizosphere of GM and non-GM rice cultivation soils. Microbial community was identified based on the culture-dependent and molecular biology methods. The total numbers of bacteria, fungi, and actinomycete in the rhizosphere soils cultivated with GM and non-GM rice were similar to each other, and there was no significant difference between GM and non-GM rice. Dominant bacterial phyla in the rhizosphere soils cultivated with GM and non-GM rice were Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. The microbial communities in GM and non-GM rice cultivated soils were characterized using the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The DGGE profiles showed similar patterns, but didn't show significant difference to each other. DNAs were isolated from soils cultivating GM and non-GM rice and analyzed for persistence of inserted gene in the soil by using PCR. The PCR analysis revealed that there were no amplified protox gene in soil DNA. CONCLUSION(S): These data suggest that transgenic rice does not have a significant impact on soil microbial communities, although continued research may be necessary.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.560-566
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• 2016

Imports of genetically modified (GM) soybeans (Glycine max) for food or feed consumption in Korea have been increasing. Although the cultivation of GM soybeans has not yet been allowed in Korea, the number of field tests for GM soybeans has also been rising. This study was conducted to investigate whether herbicide tolerant GM soybean can survive and persist in uncultivated environments when they escape from transportation routes or from isolated fields. Seeds of GM and non-GM soybeans and wild soybeans (Glycine soja) were buried in 2 and 15 cm soil depths and their viability was examined after 1, 2, 6, and 10 months. GM and non-GM soybean seeds completely lost their viability within six months of burial, whereas seeds of wild soybean maintained their viability during the study period. Seeds of soybean and wild soybeans that were sown on the soil surface germinated and grew to vegetative cotyledon stage. Seedlings of GM and non-GM soybean did not compete well with weeds, including Cerastium glomeratum, Alopecurus aequalis var. amurensis, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Conyza canadensis, Stellaria aquatica, and Erigeron annuus. Also, GM soybean did not survive through winter. However, wild soybeans competed well with the weeds and became dominant in August. Herbicide tolerant GM soybean is unlikely to persist under uncultivated environments and to become weeds.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.901-907
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• 2015

Genetically modified (GM) pepper H15 containing the gene for cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) coat protein (CP) and its control line non-GM pepper P2377 were investigated for their allergic risk. Amino acid sequence of the inserted gene product CMV-CP was compared with those of known allergens. No known allergen had greater than 35% amino acid sequence homology over an 80 amino acid window or more than 8 consecutive identical amino acids. Protein patterns of GM and non-GM pepper extracts were evaluated by SDS-PAGE, which showed similar distribution of protein bands for both GM and non-GM pepper. Antigen-antibody reactions were compared between GM and its non-transgenic parental control. ELISA and immunoblot analysis of sera from allergic patients showed some IgE reactivity; however, no differences were observed between GM pepper H15 and P2377. We therefore conclude that CMV-CP is less likely to be an allergen; the protein composition and allergenicity of the GM pepper H15 is not different from that of P2377 and safe as a commercial host.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2005.10b
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• pp.270-271
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.168-169
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• 2006

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.159-165
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• 2015

The cultivation area and use of genetically modified (GM) crops have been increased continuously over the world and concerns about the potential risks of GM crops are also increasing. One of the major concern in risk assessment is the possible development of hybrids through interspecific and intergeneric crosses with related species. This study was conducted to investigate the pollinator have an influence on insect-mediated gene transfer from GM soybeans. Hybrid was induced from GM soybeans by honeybee and western flower thrips, and non-GM soybeans were used as pollen receptor. The analysis for gene-flow was conducted by herbicide selection, immunostrip test, and PCR analysis. In the result of the analysis, three hybrids were detected on the distance 15, 75, 105 cm from pollen source in western flower thrips treatment. In honeybee treatment, one hybrid was detected in the farthest distance (300 cm). These results suggested honeybee and western flower thrips have a possibility they can transfer the introduced gene from GM soybeans to non-GM soybeans.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.121-128
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: The disease resistant (OsCK1) rice was generated by inserting choline kinase (CK1) and phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) genes isolated from Oryza sativa and Streptomyces hygroscopicus into the genome of the rice, Nakdongbyeo. With the potential problems of safeties, the evaluations on non-target organisms are essentially required for the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified (GM) crops. In the present study, we conducted the evaluation of acute toxicity on Daphnia magna that commonly used as a model organism in ecotoxicological studies for non-target organism evaluation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Effect of acute toxicity to Daphnia magna by each concentration were investigated in the disease resistant (OsCK1) rice and non-genetically modified (non-GM) rice, Nakdongbyeo, as concentration (0, 1,000, 1,800, 3,240, 5,830, 10,500 and 20,000 mg/L). The OsCK1 rice used for the test was confirmed to express the OsCK1/PAT gene by the PCR(Polymerase chain reaction) and western blot analysis. Feeding test showed that no significant differences in cumulative immobility and abnormal response of Daphnia magna fed on OsCK1 rice or non-GM rice. The 48hr-$EC_{50}$ values showed no difference between OsCK1 rice (3,147.18 mg/L) and non-GM rice (3,596.27 mg/L). CONCLUSION: This result suggested that there was no significant difference in toxicity to Daphnia magna between OsCK1 rice and non-GM counterpart.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.215-220
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• 2016

The global cultivation area of genetically modified crops (GM crops) has been increasing every year. Cultivation of GM crops is not only beneficial to the economy but also has positive effects on the environment in decreasing the use of agrochemicals, chemical fertilizers, and agricultural machinery. However, there have been controversies about the admixture of GM crops and non-GM crops and the unintentional release of GM crops to the environment. Especially in Korea, where consumption of agricultural products is import-dependent, the economic importance of GM crops has been a significant issue. The Act on import and distribution of GM crops was established in 2001 to start the management of GM crops in Korea. Recently, the imported amount of GM crops to Korea has reached over 10 million tons and is increasing very rapidly; consequently, the potential environmental impact of GM crops is becoming a big issue in Korea. In Japan, the discovery of imported GM canola plants around ports in 2005 raised awareness of the unintentional release of GM crops. In Korea, GM maize plants were also found in port and feed factory surroundings from 2005 to 2007. It is now necessary to monitor imported GM crops by tracing distribution, transport process for practical environmental risk assessment. Possible gene transfer from GM crops to non-GM crops should also be investigated in the cultivation area and the surroundings as well.