AgbioInvestor’s free-to access service AgbioInvestor GM Monitor has identified the following GM trait approvals up to February 2023. Expanded details on these recently approved traits, as well as for approvals dating back as far as 1992, can be found on AgbioInvestor’s GM Monitor website.

INDEAR’s HB4 wheat, which utilises the genetic event IND 412 (IND-ØØ412-7) has received Indonesian import approval for feed use.

The trait was developed by Verdeca, a subsidiary of the Argentinian company Bioceres, and the Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral (Conicet-UNL) and utilises several genes to provide herbicide and drought tolerances. The Bar gene is present to confer glufosinate tolerance, as well as the homeodomain-leucine zipper 4 (HB4) gene, more commonly referred to as the HaHB4 gene, to provide drought tolerance. The HaHB4 gene was isolated from the common sunflower (Helianthus annuus), and under the control of a promoter, responds to water availability and the presence of the plant hormone abscisic acid, granting crops higher yields in water stress conditions by delaying plant senescence. HB4 Wheat has been claimed to outperform comparable commercial varieties, on average, across all environments with a 43% yield increase when operating in severe drought conditions.

The HB4 wheat was created through microparticle bombardment, also known as the biolistic method or as a gene gun, a fairly common method by which transgenes are delivered into plant cells or tissues. This is done by coating heavy metal particles, commonly gold or tungsten, with the exogenous material to be introduced to the plant before firing the micro-projectiles into the plant cells to introduce and integrate the desired genetic information into the plant. Successful genetic transformation is then screened for, often through the use of marker genes to demonstrate the proper insertion of the DNA transcript.

Genetically modified drought tolerance, an output trait, was first approved for cultivation in 2007 through Monsanto’s DroughtGard, and has since seen an increase in popularity in response to rising instances of adverse dry weather conditions and their ability to improve efficiency and tolerance to abiotic stress. Whilst input traits reduce the operating costs associated with the growing of a crop, output traits often increase the value of the crop by altering characteristics of the product itself, such as altering the colour, oil, acid or lignin profile, delaying ripening, enhancing food or feed properties, or improving yield through drought or saline tolerance.

HB4 wheat was granted cultivation approval in Argentina and Brazil during 2020. The first commercial production occurred in Argentina in 2022, planting 0.05 million hectares in 2022, representing 0.78% of the total Argentinean wheat area. Bioceres is seeking approval for cultivation in Australia in 2024, is currently undergoing field trials in Uruguay, and aims to receive more planting approvals through 2023.

Approval for use in food and/or feed has been granted in Brazil (2021), Argentina (2022), Australia & New Zealand (2022), Colombia, (2022), Nigeria (2022), USA (2022) and Indonesia (2023). Brazil is a key export destination for Argentinean wheat, forming more than 58% of Argentina’s total wheat exports in 2021. In that same year, Indonesia was the 4th most important export destination, representing almost 6% of Argentina’s total wheat exports.

HB4 Soybean (technical name IND-ØØ41Ø-5), is another GM trait developed by Bioceres Crop Solutions that uses the same HaHB4 sunflower gene to confer drought-resistance. Despite unusually difficult planting conditions in Argentina HB4 Soybean is on track with half of the current seed multiplication area having been planted with new generation varieties, and the HB4 Soy program was also launched with growers in Brazil.