Prospects for the Commercialization of Transgenic Ornamentals - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 309

Public.Sector.Intellectual.Property.Resource.(PIPRA).(www.pipra.org).and.Cambia.
(www.cambia.org).should.help.facilitate.access.to.the.technology.needed.to.develop.
transgenic.ornamentals.and.other.specialty.crops.
FIELD TESTING AND DEREGULATION
In. addition. to. the. complex. intellectual. property. issues. discussed. above,. an. orna-
mental.breeder.needs.to.consider.the.increased.burden.associated.with.ield-testing.
a. transgenic. variety.. For. conventionally. bred. varieties,. the. focus. during. ield-
testing.involves.evaluation.of.such.characteristics.as:.phenotypic.stability,.hardiness,.
lowering.time.and.length,.diseases.resistance,.and.in.some.cases.invasiveness..The.
breeder.needs.to.ensure.that.the.variety.will.perform.as.expected.in.the.market.place..
Ornamentals.released.in.the.United.States.have.to.perform.well.in.a.wide.variety.of.
conditions.that.range.from.the.hot.humid.summers.and.cold.damp.winters.of.the.East.
Coast.to.the.year-round.arid.conditions.of.the.Southwest..For.this.reason,.developers.
often.test.in.multiple.locations..In.some.cases,.this.is.organized.through.grower.orga-
nizations. such. as. the. All. America. Rose. Selections. (AARS,. http://www.rose.org/)..
The.AARS.organizes.multi-site.testing.for.new.varieties.developed.by.its.members..
New.varieties.are.ranked.based.on.disease.resistance,.ease.of.care,.and.beauty..The.
best.varieties.are.awarded.the.prestigious.AARS.winners.certiicate..The.developer.
uses.the.award.to.promote.the.variety.to.the.trade.and.consumers..Before.entering.an.
AARS.trial,.developers.perform.their.own.evaluations.for.several.years..Such.ield.
tests.for.conventionally.bred.ornamentals.are.often.conducted.under.tight.security.
to.ensure.the.public.and.competitors.cannot.gain.access.to.commercially.valuable.
varieties.before.they.are.released.or.undergo.industry.trials..Transgenic.landscape.
plants.would,.in.addition.to.the.private.and.public.ield.evaluations,.need.to.undergo.
studies. on. trans-gene. low. and. impact. on. insect. populations.. These. studies. would.
signiicantly. add. to. the. size. and. complexity. of. the. ield. evaluations.. Such. studies.
are. aimed. at. understanding. the. ecological. beneits. and/or. risks. of. introducing. the.
transgenic.crop..For.large.acreage.commodity.crops,.a.great.deal.of.scientiic.effort.
and.literature.has.been.devoted.to.the.subject.of.gene.low.and.impact.on.nontarget.
organisms. 18 .Such.data.is.used.in.the.compilation.and.review.of.regulatory.packages..
The.garden.and.landscape.industry.represents.a.special.case..Plants.are.produced.on.
a.much.smaller.scale.than.commodity.crops..For.a.popular.perennial.or.shrub,.this.
could.be.in.the.range.of.100,000.to.a.million.plants.covering.0.5-10.ha..The.inal.end.
use.in.the.landscape.might.range.from.a.single.specimen.plant.to.a.few.hundreds.in.
a.large.municipal.landscape.planting..Hybridization.and.gene.low.between.native.
species. is. a. naturally. occurring. event.. Spontaneous. interspeciic. hybrids. are. well.
documented.in.numerous.ornamental.genera. 19 .The.exact.level.and.frequency.of.out-
crossing.from.a.cultivated.variety.(whether.transgenic.or.not).will,.however,.likely.
vary.from.species.to.species,.and.variety.to.variety..A.2005.study.in.Germany.docu-
mented.the.level.of.outcrossing.from.non-transgenic.hybrid.roses.to.wild.roses. 20 .The.
study.made.use.of.microsatellite.markers.to.follow.gene.low..The.authors.concluded.
that.the.frequency.of.outcrossing.from.cultivated.to.wild.roses.was.rare..A.develop-
ing. body. of. similar. literature.is. helping. to. deine. the. level. of. regulatory. oversight.
needed.for.transgenic.ornamentals. 21