Research and analysis

Qualifying higher plant notification (reference: 22/Q03)

Published 14 June 2022

Applies to England

Notification requirement for release of qualifying higher plants

Information to be provided to the Secretary of State alongside a notice of intention to release a qualifying higher plant under schedule 3A of the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022.

1. The title of the project

Field assessment of ultra-low asparagine, low acrylamide, transgene-free, gene-edited wheat.

2. The aim of the project (including any matters being investigated as part of the project)

The aim of the project is to bulk up seed from gene-edited, ultra-low asparagine wheat cv. Cadenza and conduct a field trial. This will enable us to confirm the ultra-low asparagine phenotype in the field and assess the performance of the line(s) with respect to yield, composition, thousand grain weight (TGW), Hagburg falling number (HFN) and other agronomic traits.

The edited line was produced using the clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system with the Cas9 nuclease. It contains insert/deletions (INDELS) in the asparagine synthetase genes, TaASN2 (full knockout) and TaASN1 (B genome only, partial knockout).

Plants have been identified that are negative for all three transgenes used in the editing process (Cas9, Bar and gRNA), using standard PCR protocols, and therefore qualify as precision breeding organisms (PBOs). Seed from these plants will be used in the present project.

3. The full name of the qualifying higher plant to be released under the project, including:

(a) family name: Poaceae; subfamily Pooideae

(b) genus: Triticum

(c) species: Triticum aestivum (bread wheat; common wheat)

(d) subspecies: N/A

4. The expected date on which the project will start

On or after 1 September 2022.

5. The expected duration of the project

Four growing seasons (until August 2026).

6. Confirmation that the person with overall responsibility for the project will put in place appropriate measures ^{[footnote 1]}, as necessary, to minimise the possibility of material from the qualifying higher plant being placed on the market, for example by cross-fertilizing sexually compatible commercial crops

I confirm that appropriate measures will be put in place to minimise this possibility. Wheat is approximately 99% autogamous under natural field conditions, with self-fertilization normally occurring before flowers open. Even so, the PBOs will not be grown within 20 metres of commercial cereal crops.

7. Confirmation that the person with overall responsibility for the project has read the guidance at (Technical guidance on using genetic technologies (such as gene-editing) for making ‘qualifying higher plants’ for research trials) and has assessed that the higher plants covered by this notification meet these criteria

I confirm that I have read the guidance. I confirm that the wheat lines to be grown in this experiment meet the criteria described in that document.

Please submit the completed form to gm-regulation@defra.gov.uk at least 20 days before the day on which the qualifying higher plant is due to be released.

1. Notifiers may wish to refer to published ACRE advice concerning measures for the minimisation of cross-pollination from UK GMO crop trials authorised under retained EU legislation. ↩