How were the genetically modified purple tomatoes mixed with an organic variety? : screenshots

Purple Galaxy tomatoes are featured on the cover of this season's Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog: a close-up of a blackish-purple tomato speckled with tiny pink dots. Next to it, slices of fruit open, revealing deep, fleshy fuschia seeds.

“This beauty is believed to be the first non-GMO purple tomato in the universe – and the most purple!” Read the catalog copy.

Only problem? The seeds may have actually been a GMO variety, the recently released purple tomato, created using genes from the snapdragon flower by Norfolk Healthy Produce.

This confusion has caused consternation for the heirloom seed company, which prides itself on offering rare, organic varieties and takes a firm stance against genetically modified crops. This has sparked debate about biodiversity and what might happen to genetically modified seeds when they start spreading.

When news first broke about a non-GMO purple tomato variety circulated on social media Last fall, some scientists and tomato enthusiasts weren't so sure.

“I had discussions with my colleagues about this, and we all looked at it and said, ‘OK, these are GMO tomatoes,’” says David Francis, a professor of horticulture and crop science at Ohio State University who specializes in tomato breeding and cultivation. Genetics.

Conventional plant breeders have not yet been able to produce purple-fleshed tomatoes with cross-pollination. Purple skin, yes? Purple flesh, not so much.

But using recombinant DNA technology, scientists in the UK have been able to develop a tomato with purple flesh that is high in antioxidants. It was recently approved for sale and consumption in the United States.

Caprese salad made with purple Norfolk tomatoes. The tomato was created using genes from the snapdragon.

Plant Science Norfolk

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Caprese salad made with purple Norfolk tomatoes. The tomato was created using genes from the snapdragon.

Plant Science Norfolk

After Norfolk Healthy Produce CEO Nathan Pamplin saw Instagram videos of the heirloom seed company's Purple Galaxy tomatoes, he contacted Baker Creek. Here the story becomes ambiguous.

John Brazaitis, general manager of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, says their seeds were developed by hobby breeders in France where the cultivation of GMOs is banned. Brazaitis says they tested for NPTII, a common marker for GMOs, but they did not specifically test for snapdragon genes.

After some correspondence and disagreement about the test, Baker Creek pulled the seeds From its collection and destroying its stock.

The seed company declined to say whether or not the seeds were genetically modified, she wrote a permit: “After repeated tests, we have been unable to conclusively prove that the Purple Galaxy does not contain any genetically modified genes.”

Pumplin wouldn't say definitively either, however Their website says this: “We've been told that laboratory tests have determined that they are in fact genetically modified (GMO). This finding is supported by the fact that the only reported method for producing purple-fleshed tomatoes rich in anthocyanin antioxidants is by using Norfolk's patented technology.”

But the next mystery is the one that's harder to answer: How could seeds get from a closed laboratory in the UK to an amateur gardener in France?

“I don't think it's a runaway train,” says Ohio State's Francis. “You could easily say that Baker Creek included it in their catalog because someone misappropriated it and didn't do their due diligence. Whether it was just incompetence or a mistake.” Wrong, who knows?

Francis says it's not about modified tomato genes escaping into the wild from a laboratory in the UK and being carried by wind across the English Channel to France because tomatoes don't spread like dandelions, purslane or ivy.

“For the same reason that regular tomatoes don't become weeds, they don't have the properties that allow them to compete well in a crowded environment,” he says.

Humans are definitely involved, Francis says. The GM purple tomato has been in development for 20 years, meaning access to plant material has been long and sustainable.

“Maybe a collaborator in France had some of it and their technician took it, and then their technician gave it to a friend who knew it, right?” “Someone took it and said, 'Hey, I'll play with this,'” he says.

This is not the first time genetically modified plants have ended up in the hands of unwitting producers or consumers. In 1987, a German laboratory created the orange petunia by inserting a corn gene. It was never released to the public, but nearly 30 years later, it is Found it in Finland, again almost certainly from someone breeding them illegally. The plants causing the disease were widespread throughout Europe and the United States, and were growing not in the wild, but in gardens, parks, and train stations.

Most European countries have bans on GMOs, so government agencies have told growers to destroy orange varieties. when The USDA requested the recall in 2017There were nine varieties that farmers had to destroy with names like Trilogy Mango, Petunia Salmon Ray, or Sweetunia Orange Flash. US Department of Agriculture Orange petunias are approved for sale in 2021.

Even if GMO purple tomato seeds weren't widespread in the wild, Baker Creek's Prazaitis worries that GMO seeds could show up in surprising places and growers wouldn't know whether they have GMO seeds or not.

“This will happen again and again as we see more GM crops reaching markets for consumers,” Prazaitis says.

Baker Creek's Brazaitis says the whole experience of pulling seeds from their collection has been extremely painful and they're worried about the long-term implications.

“We were very happy to find this really unique variety,” says Prazaitis. “It was very difficult to undo it. We never thought we would have a GMO problem with tomatoes.”

Pumpkin says the USDA evaluated the tomatoes (as it does with all approved GMO crops) to make sure they are unlikely to start spreading like a weed. “There's nothing about purple tomatoes that makes them superior to other tomato varieties,” says Pamplin.

Tomatoes have approx 35,000 jins Pumplin points out that Purple Tomato only has two extra snapdragons. Tomatoes are self-pollinating, meaning pollination is within the flower and the risk of the gene spreading is very low.

However, Prazaitis is concerned that genetically modified plant varieties could take over. “If we lose biodiversity in our plant world, these species will no longer exist and will depend entirely on things like GMOs to provide food,” he says.

He says preserving heirloom varieties is important because they are constantly adapting to new environments. USDA Certified Organic Products Do not allow genetically modified varieties.

Francis says biodiversity is thriving in the world of tomatoes.

“Some of the research my group has done on tomatoes shows conclusively that contemporary tomatoes, the ones we use today, are more genetically diverse than ancient heirloom tomatoes,” Francis says.

One of the main reasons is that wild tomato genes are pulled and hybridized for disease resistance, and the nutritional content actually expands the gene pool in our food.