Development of a Multiplex PCR Assay to Monitor Living Modified Cottons in South Korea

Abstract

Cotton has been cultivated worldwide and is a useful crop for humans. However, all living modified organisms (LMOs), including living modified (LM) cotton, are not cultivated in South Korea and are imported from overseas. LM cotton imports are on the rise and most of the imported cotton is used as livestock feed. In particular, it is commonly used to feed Holstein breeds that produce milk, because cotton improves the quality of milk. However, as the cotton imports increase, the possibility of unintentional outflows in the distribution process also increases. Consequently, there is an increasing concern about unintentional release of LM cotton into the natural environment. Therefore, environmental monitoring and post-management of LMOs are very important steps. Recently, a total of 30 LM crop events were approved for LM cotton import in South Korea. A single detection method has been used to monitor individual events. However, a single method of detection for collected samples requires a large number of PCRs, with obvious disadvantages. Therefore, a simultaneous detection method was developed for 8 representative events (GHB119, GHB614, MON88913, MON15985, LLCOTTON25, MON1445, 281-3006, and MON531) in an effort to monitor 26 of them and facilitate the identification of LM cotton. The results suggest that our new multiplex PCR method may be useful for monitoring and post-management of LM cotton.

Keywords

• living modified organism
• monitoring
• multiplex PCR
• feedstuffs