Development of ultrafast PCR assays for the event-specific detection of eleven approved genetically modified canola events in South Korea

•Ultrafast PCR assays for eleven GM canola events were developed.•The specificities and the detectability of the developed assays were validated.•The developed assays provide rapid and event-specific detection of GM canola events.•The potential quantitative analyses for GM canola events were evaluated. In Korea, genetically modified (GM) canola events derived from eleven single events have been authorized for food and feed, but not for cultivation. Therefore, the development of a rapid and accurate on-site detection method is crucial for the management of these approved GM canola events. In this study, ultrafast polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for the event-specific detection of eleven GM canola events were developed. The limit of detection (LOD) on DNA-based and powder-based GM canola samples of each primer set using the ultrafast PCR ranged from 0.1% to 0.01%, while the quantitative analysis of these ultrafast PCR assays, indicated that the correlation coefficient (R2) ranged from 0.98 to 0.9903. These results indicate that the developed assays may have sufficient specificity and LOD capacity to detect the eleven specific GM canola events for the attendant management and monitoring, thus preventing GM canola from contaminating the natural environment.