AgbioInvestor’s free-to access service AgbioInvestor GM Monitor has identified the following GM trait approvals up to March 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.

Soybean with soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines) resistance and HPPD (isoxaflutole) herbicide tolerance, utilising the genetic event GMB151 (BCS-GM151-6), has received import approval for feed use in South Korea.

The GMB151 genetic event was developed by BASF through agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of soybean variety Thorne. GMB151 contains a single insert of the Cry14Ab1 and hppdPf4Pa genes, providing nematode resistance and HPPD herbicide tolerance respectively. Expression of the Cry14Ab1 gene, isolated from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, produces the Cry14Ab1 crystal protein that is active against the digestive tract of susceptible nematode pests. The expression of the hppdPf4Pa gene, isolated from the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens, produces a 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD-4) enzyme that inactivates HPPD inhibiting herbicides, specifically isoxaflutole, before it accumulates to toxic levels within the plant, providing herbicide tolerance.

Isoxaflutole was first introduced in 1996 for use mainly on maize and sugarcane and is a member of the HPPD class of herbicides, which are active through the blocking of the enzyme 4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase, an enzyme responsible for the breakdown of the amino acid tyrosine into molecules that are essential to the plant. Varieties of soybean which possess GMB151 will be tolerant to the herbicidal action of isoxaflutole while surrounding weeds will be susceptible and die when the herbicide is applied.

GMB151 has been approved for cultivation in the USA (2020), Canada (2021), Brazil (2021) and South Africa (2021). It is likely that varieties possessing the trait will only be cultivated in countries with high soybean cyst nematode pressure. The genetic event has gained import approval for food and/or feed uses in a number of countries, with Australia & New Zealand being the first to grant approval in 2020, and South Korea being the latest to authorise in 2023.

GMB151 represents the first commercially authorised genetically modified solution for nematode control, while HPPD tolerance has been utilised in a number of genetic events in both soybean and cotton. HPPD tolerance in soybean is currently commercially available through BASF’s LLGT27 (genetic event A5547-127 x FG72). There are many genetic events in development utilising HPPD tolerance, from companies including BASF, Bayer, and Syngenta, the details of which are available to view on the GM Monitor website gm.agbioinvestor.com.