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Filip Cnudde
Journal: British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin, 2005, 30, pp 194-195 |
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Abstract
The European food chain is generally considered as one of the safest in the world. Paradoxically, consumers in Europe have little confidence in the safety of their food supply and remain sceptical and distrustful of the institutions and the procedures currently in place. Consumer trust has declined as a result of a series of recent food safety incidents (e.g. BSE, dioxins) and the introduction of genetically modified foods in Europe. SAFE FOODS aims to restore consumer confidence in the food chain through the development of a new integrated risk analysis approach for foods. In this new framework, an efficient interaction between the risk analysis components and integration of societal values will play a central role.
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Comparison of Tuber Proteomes of Potato Varieties, Landraces, and Genetically Modified Lines
Satu J. Lehesranta, Howard V. Davies, Louise V.T. Shepherd, Naoise Nunan, Jim W. McNicol, Seppo Auriola, Kaisa M. Koistinen, Soile Suomalainen, Harri I. Kokko, and Sirpa O. Kärenlampi
Journal: Plant Physiology, July 2005, 138, pp 1690–1699 |
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Abstract
Crop improvement by genetic modification remains controversial, one of the major issues being the potential for unintended effects. Comparative safety assessment includes targeted analysis of key nutrients and antinutritional factors, but broader scale-profiling or ‘‘omics’’ methods could increase the chances of detecting unintended effects. Comparative assessment should consider the extent of natural variation and not simply compare genetically modified (GM) lines and parental controls. In this study, potato (Solanum tuberosum) proteome diversity has been assessed using a range of diverse non-GM germplasm. In addition, a selection of GM potato lines was compared to assess the potential for unintended differences in protein profiles. Clear qualitative and quantitative differences were found in the protein patterns of the varieties and landraces examined, with 1,077 of 1,111 protein spots analyzed showing statistically significant differences. The diploid species Solanum phureja could be clearly differentiated from tetraploid (Solanum tuberosum) genotypes. Many of the proteins apparently contributing to genotype differentiation are involved in disease and defense responses, the glycolytic pathway, and sugar metabolism or protein targeting/storage. Only nine proteins out of 730 showed significant differences between GM lines and their controls. There was much less variation between GM lines and their non-GM controls compared with that found between different varieties and landraces. A number of proteins were identified by mass spectrometry and added to a potato tuber two-dimensional protein map. | |
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