Application to Develop in Containment Genetically Modified Organisms (Project Application) Under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996
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APPLICATION FORM CONTAINMENT – GMO PROJECT Application to develop in containment genetically modified organisms (project application) under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 Send by post to: Environmental Protection Authority, PO Box 131, Wellington 6140 OR email to: [email protected] Application number APP201049 Applicant The New Zealand Institute of Plant and Food Research Ltd Key contact Robin MacDiarmid The New Zealand Institute of Plant and Food Research Ltd. Private Bag 92169, Auckland 1142, NZ 120 Mt Albert Rd, Sandringham, Auckland 1025 Phone: 09 926 7000 Fax: 09 925 7001 Email: [email protected] www.epa.govt.nz 2 Application to develop in containment genetically modified organisms (project application) Important This application form covers projects for the development (production, fermentation or regeneration) of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) which meet the criteria of low risk modifications. Low risk genetic modification is defined in the HSNO (Low Risk Genetic Modification) Regulations: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2003/0152/latest/DLM195215.html. This application type is not publicly notified. The fee for this application can be found on our website at www.epa.govt.nz. This application form will be made publicly available so any confidential information must be collated in a separate labelled appendix. If you need help to complete this form, please look at our website (www.epa.govt.nz) or email us at [email protected]. This form was approved on 21 September 2011. September 2011 APP201049 3 Application to develop in containment genetically modified organisms (project application) 1. Brief application description Provide a short description (approximately 30 words) of what you are applying to do. The project aims to understand how plants and plant viruses interact during infection. 2. Summary of application Provide a plain English, non-technical description of what you are applying to do and why you want to do it. The research in this application involves understanding how plants respond to the viruses infecting them. Although all living things are diverse, they have similar responses to virus infection. We can use these similarities to help us understand exactly how plants protect themselves from viruses. We wish also to investigate if there are similarities in how mammals protect themselves against viruses when compared to plants. For instance, there is a protein that allows mammals to respond quickly to a multiplying virus. If we put this protein (for instance from rats or mice) into plants (for instance Thale cress or other non-native species) do the plants now respond more quickly? Or if we stop this protein from working in plants, do we see that the plant is now slow to respond to virus infection? When we put this protein into plants, are other plant functions changed? Alternatively, we will investigate proteins from viruses themselves. Some viruses invade their host and multiply without being detected. For example it has been demonstrated that some mammalian viruses make a protein, a cloaking device per se, to prevent detection. If we put such a protein (not the whole virus) into plants we can see whether the virus cloaking system works in plants too. Detailed analysis of these experiments will provide us with a lot of information about plants' defences against viruses. This knowledge will help solve problems with viruses in crop plants. As an additional benefit, this research may provide further insight into the mechanism of human response to virus infection without performing experiments on humans or other mammals. 3. Write a brief technical description of your project Briefly describe the host organism(s) and the proposed genetic modifications. Please make sure that any technical words used are included in a glossary. Note if any part of this research project is already covered by an existing HSNO Act approval that your organisation holds or uses. Specifically, we will be examining plants genetically modified to express genes from mammals, insects, fungi, plants, bacteria or viruses that are involved in the virus-response pathways, including – but not exclusively - gene silencing, intron splicing, translation pathways, and/or pathways involving non-translated RNAs. We will infect these plants with virus and examine them for a change in response to a virus infection. Initially, experiments will be performed in Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) or a Nicotiana species (e.g. Nicotiana benthamiana). The understanding we gain from these experiments will be confirmed by examining the effect of the same genes in other non-native species including other Nicotiana species, tomato, Kiwifruit and other Actinidia species, Blueberry and other Vaccinium species, Tamarillo, Petunia, Grapevine, Potato, and Rice. This research involves use of small, well-defined pieces of DNA (genes) from mammals (including humans, but excluding genes derived from Maori), insects, fungi, plants, bacteria or viruses to be put into plants (non-native species). These genes have been previously isolated and characterized. This GMO-technique is done for research September 2011 APP201049 4 Application to develop in containment genetically modified organisms (project application) only so that we can understand how plants naturally defend themselves from viruses. These modified plants will be kept in very secure enclosures and destroyed by autoclaving after they have been used. 4. The identity of the host organism(s) For each host organism: Provide its taxonomic name and describe what type of organism it is. Provide a description of the strain(s) being applied for (if relevant). If the host organism is derived from humans (eg, cell lines) or may have cultural significance (e.g. sourced from native biota), provide details of its source. State the category (Category 1 or Category 2) of the host organism (as per the HSNO (Low Risk Genetic Modification) Regulations). Plants Latin binomial, including full Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh (1842) taxonomic authority: Nicotiana benthamiana Domin Nicotiana tabacum L. Nicotiana clevelandii Gray Nicotiana glutinosa L. Solanum lycopersicum L. (Formerly known as Lycopersicon esculentum Miller (1768) Actinidia deliciosa C.F.Liang & A.R.Ferguson Actinidia chinensis Planch. Actinidia arguta (Siebold & Zucc.) Planch. ex Miq. Actinidia eriantha Benth. Vaccinium corymbosum L. Vaccinium ashei J.M.Reade Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton Malus domestica Borkh Cyphomandra betacea Cav. Petunia hybrida Vilm. Vitis vinifera L. Solanum tuberosum L. Oryza sativa L. Common name(s), if any: Thale cress Nicotiana species Tomato Kiwifruit Actinidia species Blueberry (Vaccinium species) Vaccinium species Apple Tamarillo Petunia Grapevine Potato Rice Type of organism and Catagory Whole plants Catagory B (as per Low-Risk Regulations) Tissue culture Catagory A Taxonomic class, order and Magnoliopsida, Capparales, Brassicaceae family: Magnoliopsida, Solanales, Solanaceae Ericales, Actinidiaceae Ericales, Ericaceae Rosales, Rosaceae Magnoliopsida, Solanales, Solanaceae September 2011 APP201049 5 Application to develop in containment genetically modified organisms (project application) Solanales, Solonaceae, Petuniodeae Magnoliopsida, Vitales, Vitaceae Magnoliopsida, Solanales, Solanaceae Monocot, Poales, Poaceae Strain(s) if relevant: Any strain/variety/cultivar Other information, including There are no known inseparable or associated with the listed organisms. presence of any inseparable or There are no known prohibited organisms involved with the listed associated organisms and any organisms. related animals present in New Zealand: Microorganisms Latin binomial, including full Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith & Townsend 1907) Conn 1942 taxonomic authority: Escherichia coli Migula (1895) Common name(s), if any: Crowngall bacterium E. coli Type of organism and Catagory Bacterium (as per Low-Risk Regulations) Both Catagory A Taxonomic class, order and Alphaproteobacteria, Rhizobiales, Rhizobiaceae family: Gammaproteobacteria; Enterobacteriales; Enterobacteriaceae Strain(s) if relevant: Non-tumorogenic strains of Agrobacterium Non-pathogenic laboratory strains of E.coli Other information, including There are no known inseparable or associated organisms associated with presence of any inseparable or listed organisms. associated organisms and any There are no known prohibited organisms involved with the listed related animals present in New organisms. Zealand: 5. Describe the nature and range of the proposed genetic modifications Describe the nature and range of the proposed genetic modifications (e.g. the range of elements that the vectors or gene constructs may contain, and the type, source and function of the donor genetic material). State the category (Category A or Category B) of the genetic modifications (as per the HSNO (Low Risk Genetic Modification) Regulations). We will use vectors that contain one or more of the following regulatory elements derived from bacterial,animal, fungal,plant and or virus genes: Promoters (constitutive, endogenous or inducible). Localisation signals. Internal ribosome entry site. Regulatory peptides. Regulatory elements for inducible expression. Polyadenylation signals. Multiple cloning sites. Origins of replication. Splice acceptor/donor sites. Transcriptional activators. Transcriptional terminator sequences. Secretory and targeting signals. Recombination sites and flanking sequences. Selection markers.