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Piante Da Frutto Transgeniche E Considerazioni Sulle Conseguenze Dei Divieti Imposti Alla Ricerca in Italia

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Piante Da Frutto Transgeniche E Considerazioni Sulle Conseguenze Dei Divieti Imposti Alla Ricerca in Italia Review n. 25 – Italus Hortus 22 (1), 2015: 31-57 Piante da frutto transgeniche e considerazioni sulle conseguenze dei divieti imposti alla ricerca in Italia Eddo Rugini Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Foreste, Natura e Energia, Università della Tuscia, Viterbo Ricezione:19 dicembre 2015; Accettazione: 3 luglio 2015 Transgenic fruit trees and conse - sense at all when one consider that all the GEPs cur - quences of the prohibitions imposed rently on the market are based on plants created with on research in Italy technologies that are about 20 years old. Modern technology could placate all the criticism generated by the first generation of GEPs and be of great support Abstract. Genetic transformation allows us to get a to the problems and to traditional breeding techni - better understanding of gene function. This technique ques. In most cases, this technology will be used to could also greatly accelerate the development of improve specifically the plants’ weak traits, providing improved plants by access to the readily available an answer to farmers’ demands, while leaving untou - and enormous national germplasm gene bank which, ched all others traits – a work that is over two deca - however, still remains unappreciated today. The total des in the making. Thanks to government funding in veto imposed by the Italian government on the use of the period between 1985 and 2002, Italian scientists this technology is making Italian farmers and seed were able to produce a variety of transgenic plants companies dependent on foreign companies and una - and fruit trees using regeneration protocols based on ble to defend national gemplasm with an obvious efficient cells that were derived from mature cultivar impact on economy. In Italy, the agricultural policy is tissues. This review describes the regeneration and not influenced by the scientific community. Lobbies transformation strategies for fruit trees, for the produc - intentionally use the acronym “GMO” to scare the tion of cis- or trans-genic plants, as well as to descri - public by spreading misleading information with the bing the most important objectives and goals we goal of maintaining the status quo and limiting the obtained, and the problems we encountered. It is also evolution of the Italian agricultural market as much as described how to produce non-transgenic plants using possible. This strategy was successful in blocking not a GEP mother plant, as well as the technique used to only production and sale of new, improved Italian avoid the transmission of the transgene to other com - germplasm, but also put a dramatic halt to research, patible plants nearby. Furthemore, the possible cau - in a medieval-style attempt at stopping progress. It is ses for public opposition to GEPs, and the risks and necessary to promote a national debate with the benefits derived from the proper use of this techno - representatives of developing countries to discuss the logy are discussed. use of Genetically Engineered Plants (GEPs) in geo - graphic areas such as Africa and Asia where millions genetic transformation, new promo - of people are dying from starvation. Such debate Key words: ters, marker genes, fruit plants, plant regeneration, should focus only on facts and scientific data. Since engineered plants, resistance to biotic and abiotic politics have been proven to be unable to solve the stresses. problem of global food distribution leaving millions of people to die from starvation every year, all the legal obstacles that limit diffusion of transgenic plants, and especially the ones that block the research and deve - Introduzione lopment and approvals of the plants already built must be abolished. Especially because these plants Gli organismi geneticamente modificati (OGM) ed could save the lives of approximately one million chil - in particolare le piante geneticamente modificate dren under the age of 5 every year. Furthermore, the (PGM), pur essendo argomento di grande attualità e al ban imposed by some developed countries on the centro di grandi dibattiti, sono poco conosciuti dall’o - development and production of GEPs makes no pinione pubblica. Questi due acronimi vengono usati impropriamente per indicare le piante ottenute con la * [email protected] tecnica del DNA ricombinante, mentre più precisa - 31 Rugini mente dovrebbero essere chiamate Piante le piante per renderle adatte al “biorimedio fitoassisti - Geneticamente Ingegnerizzate (PGI). Infatti, le PGM to” o “fitorimedio biassistito”, cioè realizzare piante sono il risultato di modifiche e selezione, sulla base con estesi e densi apparati radicali che andranno a delle necessità del momento, operate dall’uomo nel costituire una enorme superficie adsorbente ed una corso dei secoli con qualsiasi tecnica di miglioramento estesa rizosfera, che insieme agli essudati radicali for - genetico. Le PGI, invece, sono ottenute con modifiche meranno un microhabitat favorevole alla comunità del genoma attraverso l’introduzione di geni isolati da microbica deputata a svolgere la biodegradazione dei qualsiasi organismo vivente ed introdotti con vettori contaminanti organici presenti nei suoli. Questa modi - biologici (batteri e virus) o fisici o chimici. Tutt’ora fica può essere realizzata in piante già note per la queste sono chiamate genericamente “transgeniche”, capacità di accumulare metalli tossici per esaltarne il perché non si distingue la provenienza dei geni impie - potenziale di accumulo. gati per le modifiche. Questa tecnologia ha dato adito La pressante richiesta di cibo, che da molti viene a forti discussioni, sin dal suo sorgere generando un interpretata come un modo per giustificare i profitti movimento culturale contrario che contesta il trasferi - delle multinazionali, al di là di sprechi e della cattiva mento di geni tra genotipi che in natura non si potreb - distribuzione, non può essere soddisfatta con la sola bero ibridare. A seguito di queste contestazioni nel messa a coltura di aree fertili vergini, che sono in 2007 vennero introdotti i concetti di cisgenico e di esaurimento, ma con il contributo di quei territori, intragenico, per distinguere le piante ingegnerizzate attualmente inospitali, per i quali non sono disponibili sulla base della provenienza dei geni introgressi o alle piante adatte perché le tecniche tradizionali di miglio - modifiche apportate ai singoli geni della pianta ogget - ramento genetico non sono state in grado di produrle. to di modifica. Vengono definite pertanto “cisgeni - Le biotecnologie, puntano a soddisfare questa esigen - che” le piante costituite con geni, incluse le regioni del za e allo stesso tempo a costituire, in tempi relativa - promotore e terminatore nativi, che derivano da piante mente brevi, varietà vegetali con requisiti di elevata della stessa specie o da una specie ad esse molto vici - produttività, qualità, sanità e sostenibilità, con l’obiet - ne, ma sessualmente compatibili. Vengono definite tivo finale di limitare le perdite pre e post-raccolta. È “intrageniche” le modificazioni apportate a singoli ben noto che la produzione media reale delle piante geni con il riarrangiamento in vitro degli elementi coltivate nel mondo è stimata intorno al 40% della genetici (Schouten et al. , 2006). Ad oggi, dal punto di potenzialità produttiva; il 60% delle perdite, dunque, vista legislativo, entrambe le tipologie di piante cis o è da ascriversi principalmente a malattie (10-20%), a trans-geniche sono considerate alla stessa stregua. Le siccità (25%), ad infestanti (5-10%), al freddo (16%), due tipologie hanno ancora in comune l’inserimento all’anossia (16%), alla salinità (5%), ai metalli pesanti della nuova sequenza in una posizione casuale del (3%) e ai terreni poveri (20%). genoma e/o il gene di selezione ed eventuali sequenze Per molte specie tuttavia persistono ancora alcuni non codificanti del vettore di origine batterica o virale ostacoli di natura metodologica, sia nel trasferimento (ad es. i T-DNA borders). Sebbene irrilevante, tuttavia genico che nella selezione, resa difficile dai protocolli alcuni ritengono importante la sostituzione del “left e poco efficienti di rigenerazione di piante da colture di right border” con sequenze di origine vegetale, cosa cellule o tessuti, soprattutto da quelli di origine soma - che oggi sarebbe possibile con l’impiego dei nuovi tica. Inoltre si può verificare la possibilità che accanto vettori del tipo P-DNA (Plant-derived transfer DNA) alla modifica voluta se ne aggiungano altre indeside - progettati appositamente per la produzione di piante rate per effetto dell’inserimento casuale del transgene cisgeniche (Rommens et al. , 2007). La presenza nella in una posizione del DNA che intralcia la funzionalità pianta modificata di uno o più di questi elementi è la dei geni contigui ed anche per effetto dell’insorgenza causa che rallentanta l’accettabilità delle cisgeniche da della variabilità somaclonale, soprattutto se la rigene - parte della legislazione. razione è preceduta da una fase di callo o se le condi - Il trasferimento genico ha successo non soltanto zioni colturali non sono idonee. Tuttavia con la sele - per i caratteri governati da geni singoli ma anche da zione, che seguirà sempre la trasformazione, si elimi - geni multipli e le PGI possono essere utili anche in neranno quei genotipi con i caratteri indesiderati. farmaceutica e nutraceutica per produrre nuovi pro - Questa tecnologia è particolarmente adatta per dotti, esaltandone l'attitudine alla sintesi e all'accumu - quelle specie vegetali caratterizzate da una lunga fase lo di
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