Growth behavior and competitive ability of transgenic crops

One of the major concerns about introducing transgenic plants to field conditions is the possible creation of a new weed either by the transformed plant itself or through its hybrids with wild relatives. An increased fitness of the transgenic plant could be the result of major changes in characteristics found in the phases of the lifecycle, especially the competitive ability. We tested transgenic plants under greenhouse and field conditions, and found it possible to quantify relative competitive ability under standard growth conditions. These tests could be used in pre-release testing to identify significant changes in competitiveness compared to a range of nontransformed material.