A safety evaluation of genetically modified feedstuffs for livestock production; the fate of transgenic DNA and proteins

dTwo genetic constructs used to confer improved agronomic characteristics, namely herbicide tolerance (HT) in maize and soyabean and insect resistance (Bt) in maize, are considered in respect of feeding to farm livestock, animal performance and the nutritional value and safety of animal products. A review of nucleic acid (DNA) and protein digestion in farm livestock concludes that the frequency of intact transgenic DNA and proteins of GM and non-GM crops being absorbed is minimal/non existent, although there is some evidence of the presence of short fragments of rubisco DNA of non-GM soya in animal tissues. It has been established that feed processing (especially heat) prior to feeding causes significant disruption of plant DNA. Studies with ruminant and non-ruminant farm livestock offered GM feeds demonstrated that animal performance and product composition are unaffected and that there is no evidence of transgenic DNA or proteins of current GM in the products of animals consuming such feeds. On this evidence, current HT and Bt constructs represent no threat to the health of animals, or humans consuming the products of such animals. However as new GM constructs become available it will be necessary to subject these to rigorous evaluation.

Proanthocyanidin diversity in the EU 'HealthyHay' sainfoin (onobrychis viciifolia) germplasm collection

This study investigated 37 diverse sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) accessions from the EU ‘HealthyHay’ germplasm collection for proanthocyanidin (PA) content and composition. Accessions displayed a wide range of differences: PA contents varied from 0.57 to 2.80 g/100 g sainfoin; the mean degree of polymerisation from 12 to 84; the proportion of prodelphinidin tannins from 53% to 95%, and the proportion of trans-flavanol units from 12% to 34%. A positive correlation was found between PA contents (thiolytic versus acid–butanol degradation; P < 0.001; R2 = 0.49). A negative correlation existed between PA content (thiolysis) and mDP (P < 0.05; R2 = −0.30), which suggested that accessions with high PA contents had smaller PA polymers. Cluster analysis revealed that European accessions clustered into two main groups: Western Europe and Eastern Europe/Asia. In addition, accessions from USA, Canada and Armenia tended to cluster together. Overall, there was broad agreement between tannin clusters and clusters that were based on morphological and agronomic characteristics.