Project Number: 5325-41000-043-06
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Sep 15, 2003
End Date: Sep 14, 2007

Objective:
Large-scale efforts are under way to develop domestic sources of natural rubber, which is superior to petroleum-based synthetic rubber for many applications. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is the only high-yield annual crop in the USA that produces rubber naturally, and transgenic methods are being developed to enhance the quantity and quality of this product. However, sunflower also has potential drawbacks because it is a food crop that is known to cross-pollinate with other cultivated and wild sunflower populations. Furthermore, engineering metabolic pathways that produce industrial compounds is a 'young' technology that may present new challenges for regulatory agencies. The goals of this research are to introduce risk management concepts into the design and evaluation of transgenic, rubber-producing (TRP) sunflower, beginning at the earliest stages of development.

Approach:
Specifically, the project will focus on: 1) phenotypic traits of cultivated transgenic, rubber-producing sunflower, 2) effects of TRP constructs on fitness components of wild H. annuus and wild-crop hybrids, 3) the likelihood of gene flow from male-sterile transgenic, rubber-producing sunflower via seeds and volunteer populations, and 4) the feasibility of using multiple methods to confine gene flow from transgenic, rubber-producing sunflower to very low levels. To examine phenotypic effects of transgenic, rubber-producing constructs on cultivated and wild plants, we will test for differences in growth, morphology, fecundity, and other traits of field- and greenhouse-grown plants. Field experiments and molecular markers will be used to characterize the extent of gene flow via seeds from male-sterile crop plants. This interdisciplinary, collaborative research will facilitate the development of rubber-producing sunflower and other types of transgenic sunflower for commercial production. Documents Trust with Ohio State. Log 24005.