¿alguien puede hacer un mini-resumen en castellano? gracias, beso, Tom -------- Original Message -------- The full text of this important new paper is available at: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013684 Possible new twist in GM safety debate Bristol University Press release: 27 October 2010 http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2010/7279.html Scientists at the University of Bristol have discovered a previously unknown route by which GM genes may escape into the natural environment. By studying plant-fungi-bacteria interactions at plant wound sites, the team have identified a natural process stimulated by a hormone released by the wounded plant that would allow synthetic genes to move across organisms and out into the wild. The bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens transforms plant tissue as part of its infection process. This natural process provides an important toolbox for scientists to genetically manipulate many species of plants. Recently this technology has been developed for non-plant organisms including fungi by the Bailey & Foster Group in Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences. Their success has come from adding the plant wound hormone acetosyringone, which triggers Agrobacterium transformation mechanisms and allows foreign genes to modify cells (genetic transformation). In the natural environment Agrobacterium and fungi likely encounter each other at plant wound sites where acetosyringone is present, raising the possibility of natural gene transfer from bacterium to fungus. Professor Gary Foster and colleagues tested whether transformation of fungi by Agrobacterium can occur in nature on plants. Their results clearly demonstrate that when placed together on damaged plant tissue, Agrobacterium readily transforms associated fungi. “This suggests a previously unknown route for horizontal gene transfer in nature,” said Professor Foster. These results may have implications for the risk assessment of GM plants generated via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Agrobacterium can survive within plant tissue following artificial transformation in tissue culture, and can be detected within regenerated transgenic plants. This research shows that these bacteria have the potential to move the same genetic modifications to fungi in a natural environment. Prior to release of a GM plant, elimination of Agrobacterium following modern genetic modification is a key concern of geneticists and policy makers as it is essential to prevent later escape of synthesised gene from Agrobacterium to other organisms. Professor Foster said: “This study suggests that the encounter between Agrobacterium and a fungus on the plant surface may lead to gene flow in a previously overlooked way, potentially leaking GM genes into the natural world.” The Bristol study, published online in PLoS ONE, was carried out with financial support from NERC. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0013684 --- --- 1.Bacteria spread genes to fungi on plants Tom Marshall Planet Earth, 27 October 2010 http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0013684 A bacterium that's used to modify plants' genes can also change the DNA of completely different lifeforms in the wild, new research shows. If the bacteria come into contact with particular fungi at a wound in a plant's outer skin, the fungi can come away with new genes from the bacterium. If these help it survive, they could become a permanent part of its genetic makeup. This is a way genes could potentially escape genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) and move into other living things. It underscores the need to make sure these microbes are removed completely from genetically-modified plants before they leave the lab. It also shows that genes can move between organisms in more ways than has previously been assumed. 'This study suggests that the encounter between this bacterium and a fungus on the plant surface may lead to gene flow in a previously overlooked way, potentially leaking GM genes into the natural world,' says Professor Gary Foster of the University of Bristol, one of the study's authors. Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a bacterium that in the wild infects plants through wounds in their outer skin and transfers its own genetic material into them, making them form what are called 'crown galls'. Scientists already know which bit of the bacterium's DNA gets transferred to the new host when it's infected. Removing this DNA and adding new genetic material from another source is the main tool they've used to genetically modify plants like soya beans or oilseed rape to give them desired characteristics like resistance to pesticides or higher vitamin content. 'Agrobacterium is the industry standard for getting new DNA into plants,' says Dr Andy Bailey, a plant pathologist at the University of Bristol who took part in the research. 'It infects many different plants in the wild and effectively carries out natural genetic engineering. But our work raises the question of whether its host range is wider than we had thought - maybe it's not confined only to plants after all.' To transfer DNA to a plant, Agrobacterium needs a wound in the plant's skin, as well as a hormone called acetosyringone, which plants make when they're injured. Researchers already knew the bacterium can transform the DNA of living things other than plants, including fungi - whether inserting its own genes, or any others it's provided with. But until now they've had to supply the acetosyringone themselves to make this happen. In this new research, published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, Claire Knight, the University of Bristol PhD student on the project, used lab-grown plant samples to show that there is enough acetosyringone around a naturally-occurring wound on a plant to let the bacterium transfer genes to the common fungal pest Verticillium albo-atrum. In most cases this won't be a problem, as the new genes won't do anything to help the fungus survive. But in particular cases, it's potentially harmful, transferring genes that confer pesticide resistance or some other valuable trait to a harmful pest species. Companies that produce commercial GM crops already use antibiotics to remove Agrobacterium after it's done its work. But Bailey says this research suggests they may need to do more to ensure this is working. 'If a plant is still carrying Agrobacterium and is planted out, not only other plants but also fungi could receive the new DNA,' Bailey says. 'So it's important to be absolutely certain all the Agrobacterium has been removed.' --- --- 2.Investigating Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation of Verticillium albo-atrum on Plant Surfaces Claire J. Knight, Andy M. Bailey, Gary D. Foster* http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0013684 Abstract Agrobacterium tumefaciens has long been known to transform plant tissue in nature as part of its infection process. This natural mechanism has been utilised over the last few decades in laboratories world wide to genetically manipulate many species of plants. More recently this technology has been successfully applied to non-plant organisms in the laboratory, including fungi, where the plant wound hormone acetosyringone, an inducer of transformation, is supplied exogenously. In the natural environment it is possible that Agrobacterium and fungi may encounter each other at plant wound sites, where acetosyringone would be present, raising the possibility of natural gene transfer from bacterium to fungus. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigate this hypothesis through the development of experiments designed to replicate such a situation at a plant wound site. A. tumefaciens harbouring the plasmid pCAMDsRed was co-cultivated with the common plant pathogenic fungus Verticillium albo-atrum on a range of wounded plant tissues. Fungal transformants were obtained from co-cultivation on a range of plant tissue types, demonstrating that plant tissue provides sufficient vir gene inducers to allow A. tumefaciens to transform fungi in planta. Conclusions/Significance This work raises interesting questions about whether A. tumefaciens may be able to transform organisms other than plants in nature, or indeed should be considered during GM risk assessments, with further investigations required to determine whether this phenomenon has already occurred in nature. *School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom