Comparison of Methods to Extract Spores of Vesicular‐Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Abstract

The development of new or improved traits in plants, whether that is through traditional genetic modification and selection or through transgenic technologies, is associated with the potential risk of unintended changes with harmful or unacceptable consequences. The greater definition and precision of transgenic modification and the regulatory oversight of such technology may, however, confer advantages in safety and efficacy. This bears considerable relevance to the use of transgenic-based metabolic engineering in agricultural trait development. Metabolic engineering seeks to modify the amounts or chemical structures within selected biosynthetic routes without introducing inadvertent effects on other metabolic pathways. Examples discussed here include attempts to; (i) modify benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis in poppy, (ii) improve the nutritional value of maize by increasing levels of free lysine, and (iii) increase the nutritional value of cottonseed by eliminating gossypol production. Clearly, evaluation of the efficacy (and unintended consequences) of such approaches is vital. A role for metabolomics in the compositional and metabolite analyses of new plant varieties derived from transgenic-based metabolic engineering is discussed. Major themes discussed in this review include; (i) the heightened level of scrutiny associated with genetically modified (GM) crop evaluations has markedly contributed to the safety in the adoption of transgenic technology, and (ii) the nature of any introduced trait may prove more relevant to safety assessments than the means by which the trait is introduced.