Determining Gene Flow in Transgenic Cotton

Gene flow is one of the major concerns associated with the release of transgenic plants into the environment. Unrestricted gene flow can results in super weeds, reduction in species fitness and genetic diversity, and contamination of traditional plants and foods. Thus, it is important and also necessary to evaluate the extent of gene flow in the field for transgenic plants already released or being considered for a release. Transgenic cotton is among the first transgenic crops for commercialization, which are widely cultivated around the world. In this chapter, we use transgenic insect resistant cotton and herbicide-tolerant cotton as two examples to present a field practice method for determining transgene flow in cotton. The procedure includes three major sections: (1) field design, (2) seed collection, and (3) field and lab bioassay.