Effectiveness of border areas in confining the spread of transgenic Brassica napus pollen

The development of transgenic Brassica napus L. cultivars requires field trials in agricultural settings. For field testing of transgenic constructs that have not been granted full environmental release, current Canadian Government regulations require either large isolation zones (200 m) or 10 m wide borders of synchronously flowering, non-transgenic B. Napus to contain transgenic pollen. To investigate the effectiveness of border areas in containing transgenic B. napus pollen, border areas 15 to 30 m wide were planted around 30 m x 60 m central plots of bromoxynil-herbicide-resistant transgenic B. napus strains. Four field trials were conducted at Carman and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1994 and 1995. Seed samples were harvested from the border area at 0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 15 m for the four cardinal directions and additionally at 20, 25, and 30 m for two cardinal directions. These seed samples were planted in the field in 1995 and 1996 and the seedlings screened for the presence of bromoxynil-resistant plants (i.e., from outcrossed seeds). Distance from the central plot significantly affected outcrossing rates while environment (site-year) and direction effects were non-significant. Outcrossing rates averaged 0.70% at 0 m and declined exponentially to 0.02% at 30 m. More than four-fifths of the total outcross events detected occurred in the first 10 m of border area indicating that border areas effectively reduce pollen-mediated gene flow in B. napus but cannot completely eliminate it.