Scion seeks big field test of GE pine trees | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

An environmental watchdog is calling for public submissions on a plan to field test genetically-engineered pine trees ``in containment'' at Rotorua.

Submissions close on October 6, the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) said today.

State science company Scion wants to test genes influencing plant growth, reproductive development, herbicide tolerance, biomass utilisation, wood density and stability, in 4000 trees on a four hectare site.

The field test will last for 25 years, though each tree will be grown only for a maximum of eight years.

Scion said today the trees would not be allowed to release pollen or seed, though it has previously said branches from a few trees will be grafted onto non-GE rootstocks to produce pollen or seed in containment.

The technology is aimed at boosting production of wood and fibre-based products, bio-fuels, other chemical extracts from trees, and for increasing carbon capture through tree planting, the company said.

``Scion sees a future for biotech trees to help meet New Zealand's needs for a sustainable future, alleviating climate change and producing a wide range of new environmentally cleaner bio-products and bio-fuels,'' the company said today.

Some iwi are major forestry owners and managers and Scion has particularly pitched the GE trees as offering a chance for Maori economic advancement.

Plantation forests already earn the country $3.2 billion a year, and Scion has said world demand for forest products is expected to increase over the next 30 years.

The company has developed GE herbicide-resistant radiata pine and spruce, and insect-resistant radiata pine for indoor containment studies it said showed an ability to deliver additional genetic gain.

Scion said it lead the world in applying these techniques to radiata pine and would be collaborating with commercial partner ArborGen Australasia.

In 2000, the company received approvals from Erma to field test radiata pine over 22 years with engineered genes controlling reproductive development and over 11 years for herbicide resistance, which it said today had not shown any negative environmental impacts or evidence of gene transfer to other organisms.

DNA sequences will be copied from organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and plants, and the GE trees will be assessed for herbicide tolerance, biomass acquisition, wood characteristics and expression of the new genes. Environmental impacts will also be assessed by monitoring the micro-organisms and insects living in association with pines.

Scion is seeking increased stability of wood dimensions -- less shrinkage in drying -- and improved plant growth and better suitability of glue-like chemicals, known as lignins, in the wood to being pulped or broken down by microorganisms or enzymes.

And because foresters growing conventional trees don't want genetic contamination from GE forests, it plans to control reproductive development -- producing trees that won't produce viable pollen or seed cones - which may allow extra energy to be transferred to plant growth.