Search Results for: Tomato
Crop injury from sublethal rates of herbicide. I. tomato
Abstract: Drift from pesticides can kill or damage nontarget organisms. In these studies, the effects of sublethal rates of the herbicide glyphosate applied prebloom, at bloom, and postbloom of the first flower cluster were evaluated in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). As rates increased from 1 to 100 g·ha-1, foliar injury and flower and fruit number per …
The international regulation of genetically modified organisms: Importing caution into the US food supply
Text: Biotechnology is big business.1 As such, the use of biotechnology to engineer plants, and the regulation of the resulting food crops, involves economic and trade issues, as well as science and health issues.2 Through modern biotechnology, selected individual genes are transferred from one organism into another, sometimes between nonrelated species, using recombinant DNA (rDNA) …
Do dietary lectins cause disease? The evidence is suggestive—and raises interesting possibilities for treatment
Abstract: In 1988 a hospital launched a “healthy eating day” in its staff canteen at lunchtime. One dish contained red kidney beans, and 31 portions were served. At 3 pm one of the customers, a surgical registrar, vomited in theatre. Over the next four hours 10 more customers suffered profuse vomiting, some with diarrhoea. All had …
Ecotoxicological assessment of glyphosate‐based herbicides: Effects on different organisms
Abstract: Glyphosate‐based herbicides are the most commonly used worldwide because they are effective and relatively nontoxic to nontarget species. Unlimited and uncontrolled use of such pesticides can have serious consequences for human health and ecological balance. The present study evaluated the acute toxicity and genotoxicity of 2 glyphosate‐based formulations, Roundup Original (Roundup) and Glyphosate AKB …
Genetically modified foods and the Pusztai affair
Abstract: In his clinical review on genetically modified foods Jones implies that Pusztai had tested only the effects of potato spiked with concanavalin A (a lectin) at the Rowett Institute. The initial dissemination of this incorrect information followed by the inappropriate suspension of Pusztai and the suspicion of fraud implied by instituting an audit according …
Food biotechnology’s challenge to cultural integrity and individual consent
Abstract: Consumer response to genetically altered foods has been mixed in the United States. While transgenic crops have entered the food supply with little comment, other foods, such as the bioengineered tomato, have caused considerable controversy. Objections to genetically engineered food are varied, ranging from the religious to the aesthetic. One need not endorse these …
The persistence of engineered Agrobacterium tumefaciens in agroinfected plants
Abstract: Several plant species, including tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), Gynura aurantiaca, avocado (Persea americana), and grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) grafted on Troyer citrange (Poncirus trifoliata x C. sinensis) were “agro-infected” with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA-4404, carrying a mini-Ti plasmid with a dimeric cDNA of citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd). Extracts prepared from tissues of the agroinfected plants 38-90 …
Cauliflower mosaic virus protein P6 inhibits signaling responses to salicylic acid and regulates innate immunity
Abstract: Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) encodes a multifunctional protein P6 that is required for translation of the 35S RNA and also acts as a suppressor of RNA silencing. Here we demonstrate that P6 additionally acts as a pathogenicity effector of an unique and novel type, modifying NPR1 (a key regulator of salicylic acid (SA)- and …
The role of magnesium in plant disease
Abstract: Background. Magnesium (Mg), as an essential mineral element for plants and microbes, can have both indirect as well as direct effects on disease. Balanced nutrition is critical for the expression of disease resistance since nutrition is part of a delicately balanced interdependent system influenced by the plant’s genetics and the environment. A deficiency or …
Implications of transgenic, insecticidal plants for insect and plant biodiversity
Abstract: Genetically modified plants are widely grown predominantly in North America and to a lesser extent in Australia, Argentina and China but their regions of production are expected to spread soon beyond these limited areas also reaching Europe where great controversy over the application of gene technology in agriculture persists. Currently, several cultivars of eight …
Why genetically modified food needs reconsideration before consumption
Text: Introduction. With the advent of introducing genetic engineering in agricultural sciences and food production, food safety has become a major issue.[1] The genetic content of the organisms is altered using these techniques that result into genetically engineered organism (plants/animals) also known as genetically modified organisms. Human beings mainly depend upon plants for their food …
An interspecies hybrid RNA virus is significantly more virulent than either parental virus
Abstract: Cucumber mosaic cucumovirus (CMV) infects a very wide range of plant species (>1000 species). We recently demonstrated that a previously undescribed gene (2b) encoded by RNA 2 of the tripartite RNA genome of CMV is required for systemic virus spread and disease induction in its hosts. Herein we report that when this CMV gene …
Adventitious presence of GMOs: Scientific overview for Canadian grains
Abstract: The global expansion in the development and cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops has increased international concern about adventitious presence of GM materials in non-GM seeds and grains. GM events in canola, corn, soybean, cotton, flax, papaya, potato, squash, sugar beet, and tomato have received regulatory approval in Canada. However, GM cultivars are only …
Defying nature: The ethical implications of genetically modified plants
Abstract: This article explores the ethical implications of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in food that originate from plants that have been genetically altered through bioengineering. Despite noble goals to increase the food supply on the planet, biotechnology has not been applied towards that end. Instead, companies have developed “terminator” seeds that cannot reproduce, forcing farmers …
Feds’ approach to genetically modified products criticized
Text: A new report has criticized the federal government for its “scientifically unjustifiable” approach to the regulation of genetically modified (GM) products. The report, by a 15-member expert panel of the Royal Society of Canada, was commissioned by the federal government in November 1999 to investigate potential risks posed by biotech products. The director general …
Can science give us the tools for recognizing possible health risks of GM food?
Abstract: Nearly ten years after the introduction of GM foodcrops there are still only a handful of published studies about their safety. Independent studies are even fewer, moreover, no peer-reviewed publications exist in which the results of clinical investigations on the possible effects of GM food on human health are described. Even though the evaluation …
A literature review on the safety assessment of genetically modified plants
Abstract: In recent years, there has been a notable concern on the safety of genetically modified (GM) foods/plants, an important and complex area of research, which demands rigorous standards. Diverse groups including consumers and environmental Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) have suggested that all GM foods/plants should be subjected to long-term animal feeding studies before approval …
Toxicity studies of genetically modified plants: A review of the published literature
Abstract: According to the information reported by the WHO, the genetically modified (GM) products that are currently on the international market have all passed risk assessments conducted by national authorities. These assessments have not indicated any risk to human health. In spite of this clear statement, it is quite amazing to note that the review …