TITLE:
Comparison of RF3 B. juncea to RF3 B. napus
AUTHORS:
Sandra J. W. Mackie
KEYWORDS:
Canola, brassica, juncea, napus, RF3, Composition, Protein Expression, Molecular Characterization
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.12 No.11,
November
18,
2021
ABSTRACT: RF3 Brassica napus L. (InVigorTM Canola) has been in commercial cultivation since
1997. RF3 B. napus was produced by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation
to provide glufosniate ammonium herbicide tolerance to the crop. Canola quality
(CQ) varieties of Brassica juncea L. (Czern & Coss), a close
relative of B. napus, have been available in Canada for more than 20
years. Currently, BASF Agricultural Solutions is developing CQ RF3 B. juncea via conventional breeding with RF3 B. napus to provide similar herbicide
tolerance in the B. juncea species. The insertion event RF3 contains
the bar gene (origin Streptomyces
hygroscopicus) coding for phosphinothricin acetyl transferase (PAT/bar)
protein which confers tolerance to glufosinate-ammonium herbicides. RF3 also contains the barstar gene (origin Bacillus
amyloliquefaciens), coding for the Barstar protein, which is an
inhibitor of the Barnase protein. In the absence of Barnase, there is no
impact of Barstar. Many safety studies have
been conducted during the development of the canola quality lines of RF3 B. napus and RF3 B. juncea. This report seeks to
compare the two species based on the scientific data generated
during the safety assessments of RF3 B. napus and RF3 B. juncea and discusses the utility of using studies with one species to support
the safety of the other species both containing the same insertion event.