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A colloidal gold immunochromatographic strip (ICS) for simultaneous detection of multiple transgenic proteins, including CP4 EPSPS, BT-Cry1Ab and BT-Cry1Ac, was developed in this study. The sensitivity of the strip to the target protein was 5 ng/mL for CP4 EPSPS, 100 ng/mL for BT-Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac, respectively. Parallel analysis for maize, soybean, sugar beet and cotton showed the strip could detect 1% of transgenic content in crops containing BT-Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac, and, at least, 0.1% of content in crops containing CP4 EPSPS. The detection results for seed samples indicated the multicomponent analysis ICS had good accuracy. The analysis could be completed within 10 min and had the advantages of being high-throughput, easy to operate and visual detection. This is the first report of semi-quantitative ICS for detecting three transgenic proteins simultaneously. The developed approach may provide insights into the development of ICS for analyzing simultaneously multiple components in genetically modified crops.

Genetically modified carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) Moonshade was approved for planting and commercialization in several countries from 2004. Developing methods for analyzing Moonshade is necessary for implementing genetically modified organism labeling regulations. In this study, the 5'-transgene integration sequence was isolated using thermal asymmetric interlaced (TAIL)-PCR. Based upon the 5'-transgene integration sequence, conventional and TaqMan real-time PCR assays were established. The relative limit of detection for the conventional PCR assay was 0.05 % for Moonshade using 100 ng total carnation genomic DNA, corresponding to approximately 79 copies of the carnation haploid genome, and the limits of detection and quantification of the TaqMan real-time PCR assay were estimated to be 51 and 254 copies of haploid carnation genomic DNA, respectively. These results are useful for identifying and quantifying Moonshade and its derivatives.

Artemisia annua L. is a popular medical plant used against malaria. Transgenic A. annua plants have been developed to increase the artemisinin content using genetic engineering. To develop a reliable PCR method of detecting transgenic A. annua, one Artemisia specific gene, GEL4, was selected and validated as suitable. Qualitative PCR methods were assayed with 16 different A. annua ecotypes and four Artemisia plants, and identical amplified products were obtained. No amplified products were observed when genomic DNA samples were extracted from 15 different plant species. An LOD of 0.05 ng of A. annua DNA was also determined. Furthermore, the results of a Southern blot method showed that the GEL4 gene was in three copies of the six A. annua ecotypes tested. To determine whether there was intraspecific variability in the GEL4 region between different A. annua ecotypes, the GEL4 region corresponding to the 10 A. annua ecotypes was cloned and sequenced. Alignment of the obtained sequences presented a highly conserved amplification product region in 10 A. annua ecotypes. Therefore, it is concluded that the GEL4 gene can be used as an endogenous reference gene of A. annua, and that the qualitative PCR system was reliable for the detection of transgenic A. annua.

Genetically modified crops are widely grown in the world today. Labeling is required when genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are placed on the market. There is a need to establish a specific method for the detection of genetically modified foods. MON863 transgenic maize containing a Cry3Bb1 sequence that produces insecticidal protein cry3Bb1 is a major GMO crop. In this paper, we report studies that designed specific PCR primers and TaqMan probes based upon the 5′-transgene integration sequence, and developed qualitative and quantitative PCR conditions using these primers and probes. We determined the 5′-transgene integration sequence using a ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction (LM PCR) method. In qualitative PCR studies, the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.5% for MON863 in 100 ng genomic DNA. In the quantitative PCR assays, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) are 10 and 100 haploid copies, respectively. Maize samples with different contents of genetically modified component were tested using the established TaqMan real-time PCR system.

The validation of the anthocyanin synthase (ANS) gene as a carnation endogenous reference gene applicable both in classical and real-time PCR methods is a prerequisite for the development of PCR assays for genetically modifed (GM) carnation detection. This is important due to the fact that GM carnation lines, developed by Florigene Pty Ltd, have been approved for commercialization. In this study, both methods were tested on 14 different carnation cultivars, and identical amplifcation products were obtained with all of them. No amplifcation products were observed with samples from 14 other plant species, which demonstrated that the system was specifc to carnation. The results of Southern blot analysis confrmed that the ANS gene had a low copy number in the 10 tested carnation varieties. In qualitative and real-time PCR assays, the LOD values of 0.05 and 0.005 ng carnation DNA, respectively, were validated. Moreover, the real-time PCR system was validated with high PCR effciency and linearity. Thus, the ANS gene had species specifcity, low heterogeneity, and low copy number among the tested cultivars. These results provide evidence that the gene can be used as an endogenous reference gene of carnation, as well as in qualitative and quantitative PCR systems.