What role can GM sugarcane play in sustainability
30 April 2015
Contents
 Introduction
 Global uptake of GM technology
 Evolution of GM technologies
 Obstacles to realise GM opportunities in sugarcane
 Why GM technology is crucial for sustainable sugarcane
production
 ‘Flaws’ in the crop
 Diversification options
 Status of GM sugarcane
 Australian GM sugarcane
 Summary
Early and advance GM crop development
Increase yield
• Alfalfa, Canola, Corn, Sugarbeet, Sugarcane, Soybean, Rice, Wheat,
• Companies: Monsanto, BASF, Bayer Crop Science, CTC, KWS, Forage
Genetics International
Pest management
 Soybean (HT, insect, nematode, disease, fungal), Rice (HT, Insect),
cotton (HT, insect and both), corn (HT, insect, fungi), Bean (virus),
Eggplant (insect), Potatoes (virus), Sugarcane (HT and insect),
Sugarbeet (HT), Wheat (HT), Canola (HT), Alfalfa (HT), Cotton
(Insect, HT), Maize (Insect, HT), rice (insect, HT)
 Companies: Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer, Syngenta, BASF, Dow Agro
Sciences, Bayer Crop Science, M.S. Technologies, Embrapa/ Brazil,
SRA
Early and advance GM crop development
Crop Composition
 Soybean (increase oil and feed efficiency; Omega 3, low saturated fats), Rice
(Golden rice – beta carotene), Alfalfa (reduced Lignin), Sugarcane (kestose
and polymers and biodegradable plastics)
 Companies: DuPont Pioneer, Monsanto, IIRRI/ Philippines, Monsanto, Forage
Genetics International, Bayer
Nitrogen Utilization
 Corn, Sugarcane
 Companies: DuPont Pioneer, Syngenta, SASRI
Stress Tolerance
 Corn (drought, yield and stress), Sugarcane
 Companies: DuPont Pioneer, Monsanto, BASF
Other crops with other traits
 Linseed, carnation, melon, papaya, banana, plum, sunflower, tobacco,
tomato, grasses, lentil, squash
Source: CERA GM Database, CropLife International
Adoption of GM crops
 Land area devoted to GM crops has ballooned by 100 times
since 1996
 18 millions farmers in 28 countries have planted and
replanted GMO crop seeds
 181 million hectares of GM crops planted by 2014 (50 percent
larger than the total land mass of the United States)
 Production statistics show a sustained increase of 3-4%.
Fastest adopted technology in history
Why GM?
A major review on the impact of GM crops on the farming system was concluded
in 2014, and the main findings were:
 Yield increases for HT crops were 9% and 25% for insect resistance crops
 Farmers that adopted GM crops were making 69% more profit than those that
did not
 GM crops increased overall yields in developing countries by 14%
 Some overall gains;
 $116,9 billion increase in farm income in the period 1996-2012
 Higher productivity per unit land area and a contribution to the alleviation
of poverty
 503 million kg reduction in pesticide application
 Reduced pesticide and herbicide run-off
 Reduced fossil fuel usage equivalent to taking 11.9 million cars of the road.
Evolution of GM Technologies
Traditionally genetically modified crops are derived through the
introduction of a gene (sense or antisense) in a way that does
not occur naturally
 Two main processes
 Agrobacterium – use of bacteria to move DNA into cells
 Gene gun – use of metal particles to move DNA into plant
cells
 Transgenic – genes derived from another species
 Cisgenic – genes derive from the same species or a genetically
closely related species that can naturally outcross
Genome editing
Process by which genes are introduced, replaced, removed or
edited using molecular scissors (engineered nucleases)
 Fundamentally the process is initiated by causing a double
stranded break in a specific location in the genome. The cells
own machinery and naturally occurring processes are then
allowed to repair the break
 There are currently four families of these engineered
nucleases
 Some of these technologies have already been ruled not to be
GM by the US and Europe
 Requires a high level information of the genome of the target
organism.
When to consider GM technology
 Lack of genetic diversity or absence of a trait in the germplasm
 Insect resistance
 Nematode resistance
 Poor photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency
 Sensitivity to water stress
 Negative association between traits
 Fibre and sucrose
 High early sugar and vigour
 Smut and Pachymetra resistance?
When to consider GM technology (cont
Diversification
 Polymers (fructans etc)
 Alternative high value sugars
 Biodiesel
 Biodegradable plastics
 Cell wall degradation (second generation biofuels)
Status of GM sugarcane
 Transformation technology for sugarcane now well
established in most major sugar producing countries.
More than 20 different types of transgenes and stably
expressed over cropping cycle.
 Still some issues but enormous progress
 Yield penalties
 Poor germination is some cases
 Instability in gene expression
 Many programs close to commercialisation
Status of GM sugarcane
Company / Group
Trait(s)
Status
Obstacles to realise GM opportunities in sugarcane
 Exorbitant high costs for deregulation makes the current event
based deregulation system not well suited for a complex polyploid
crop such as sugarcane. Together with other multinationals we are
working towards a regulatory system based on construct approval
 Commercial partnerships (genes and chemicals)
 Market acceptance of sugar derived from GM sugarcane
 Product separation
 Mechanisms to monitor the planting of GM canes and the collection
of royalties that will come with the technology.
Status GM sugarcane - Australia
 Herbicide tolerance was chosen as the first GM trait to take to
market
 Annual losses due to weeds around $150M
 Commercial access to proven gene technology through a
partnership with a multinational company
 Relatively easy to screen for and develop data packages that
could inform a change in the regulatory system
 Significant background information already available that would
be used in the deregulation process
 Could offer alternative options for the use of diuron
 Project on track for commercial availability of GM sugarcane for
planting in 2019. Many of the nominated obstacles still remain
a = unsprayed control
b = Non GM sprayed with 4 x commercial rates
c = GM sprayed with 4 x commercial ratess
Weed growth in herbicide-treated (right) and untreated (left) plots
Summary
 There is already commercial GM sugarcane and this will increase in the
future
 Sustainable sugarcane production will have first generation GM
technology as part of its technology ‘toolbox’
 Addition of new traits
 Correction of genetic ‘flaws’
 Those industries that have invested heavily in genome analyses will be the
beneficiaries of the second generation biotech crops which probably will
not be classified as GM crops
 There are still significant issues to overcome in the deregulation of GM
sugarcane
 Australia remain on track to have its first generation GM sugarcane
varieties ready by 2019