The impact of GM seed admixture on the non-GM harvest product in maize (Zea mays L.)

Recently, the introduction of GM maize in agricultural production in the EU and elsewhere has raised the issue of adventitious presence of GM seeds in conventional seed lots. Adventitious presence may occur in all arable farming, and at any step in the production of seeds or grain, or in processing of harvested product in the food/feed chain. As of today, there are no official thresholds governing the adventitious presence of GM seeds in conventional seed lots in Europe. However, it is assumed that GM admixture in seed lots could have a considerable influence on the level of adventitious presence in the non-GM harvested product. The experiments highlighted in this paper aim at the consequences of adventitious presence of GM maize seeds in conventional seed lots. It is shown for varieties belonging to the same maturity group that the final GM rate (% seeds) in the harvest product is nearly same as the initial seed admixture (% seeds). This corresponds to Hardy–Weinberg expectations. The variation depends mainly on the flowering coincidence, the site and climatic conditions. In cases where the admixed seeds are of different maturity group, the level of cross-pollination in the harvest product is reduced. Furthermore a comparison between the visual GM seed detection and real-time PCR detection was done. It is evident that the result of the real-time PCR detection method has a more variable uncertainty associated with its results than the visual seed testing method. The accuracy of prediction from % GM seed to % GM DNA depends on the reference material used for calibration curves.