A metapopulation model for the introgression from genetically modified plants into their wild relatives.

ABSTRACT: Most models on introgression from genetically modified (GM) plants have focused on small spatial scales, modelling gene flow from a field containing GM plants into a single adjacent population of a wild relative. Here, we present a model to study the effect of introgression from multiple plantations into the whole metapopulation of the wild relative. The most important result of the model is that even very low levels of introgression and selection can lead to a high probability that the transgene goes to fixation in the metapopulation. Furthermore, the overall frequency of the transgene in the metapopulation, after a certain number of generations of introgression, depends on the population dynamics. If there is a high rate of migration or a high rate of population turnover, the overall tra

SUBMITTER: Meirmans PG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3352369 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature