Molecular Characterization of Transgenic Events Using Next Generation Sequencing Approach

PLoS One. 2016 Feb 23;11(2):e0149515. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149515. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Demand for the commercial use of genetically modified (GM) crops has been increasing in light of the projected growth of world population to nine billion by 2050. A prerequisite of paramount importance for regulatory submissions is the rigorous safety assessment of GM crops. One of the components of safety assessment is molecular characterization at DNA level which helps to determine the copy number, integrity and stability of a transgene; characterize the integration site within a host genome; and confirm the absence of vector DNA. Historically, molecular characterization has been carried out using Southern blot analysis coupled with Sanger sequencing. While this is a robust approach to characterize the transgenic crops, it is both time- and resource-consuming. The emergence of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has provided highly sensitive and cost- and labor-effective alternative for molecular characterization compared to traditional Southern blot analysis. Herein, we have demonstrated the successful application of both whole genome sequencing and target capture sequencing approaches for the characterization of single and stacked transgenic events and compared the results and inferences with traditional method with respect to key criteria required for regulatory submissions.

MeSH terms

  • Blotting, Southern
  • Gene Dosage
  • Genomics / methods
  • Glycine max / genetics
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / methods*
  • Plant Breeding
  • Plants, Genetically Modified / genetics*
  • Transgenes*

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.