Perennial ryegrass (pictured) is cultivated in Australia as both forage and recreational turf Source: USGS/Wikipedia

The Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI Victoria) has filed an application for the limited and controlled release of genetically modified perennial ryegrass and tall fescue modified for improved forage qualities.

The application outlines the release of Lolium perenne. and L arundinaceum on one site in the Southern Grampians Shire, Victoria, covering 800m² from June 2008 to July 2010. Up to 500 GM lines are proposed for release, each containing one or more of 12 genes derived from the perennial ryegrass and tall fescue.

The grasses are aimed at improving forage quality via altered carbohydrate levels and plant cell structure, including incorporating three genes from perennial ryegrass and nine genes from the ryegrass or tall fescue. The introduced genes are expected to change carbohydrate levels and improve digestibility of the grasses.

Both grasses are exotic to Australia, with perennial ryegrass being widely cultivated as both forage and recreational turf whilst tall fescue is widely grown for pasture and turf.

Particle bombardment was used to produce the GM grasses, with up to 250 lines of the perennial ryegrass containing one or more of three introduced perennial ryegrass genes, encoding proteins involved in fructan biosynthesis in 15 different combinations. The expression of these genes is expected to alter the level of fructan carbohydrates to increase available energy and enhance animal productivity.

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A number of control measures have been outlined for the trial, including planting at a time when other grasses in the release area are not flowering, restricting the trial site within a 1m high fence and locked gate, destroying all plant materials remaining at the field site after the trial and post harvest monitoring for 12 months. The grasses will not be used in either human food or animal feed.

Names of a number of the introduced genes, promoters and terminators, as well as the identity of the transformed cultivars have been declared Confidential Commercial Information (CCI). There have been no previous releases of these grasses or any other GM perennial ryegrass or tall fescue in Australia.

The Risk Assessment and Risk Management Plan (RARMP) is expected to be released for comment in late May 2008.
By Rebecca Debens

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