Chinese scientists have developed a genetically modified (GM) corn that
could help improve the nutritional value of livestock feed and reduce
pollution.
The research was announced by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural
Sciences (CAAS) this week (10 September). The corn has now entered
pre-production field trials.

The GM corn produces seeds containing high levels of an enzyme called
phytase. The enzyme helps livestock to digest phosphorus, an important
nutritional element found in corn and soy feeds.

Many kinds of livestock lack phytase in their stomach so large amounts
of phosphorus are released into the environment through animal waste.

As a result, farmers add phytase to animal feed to help livestock digest
phosphorus. The enzyme is a product of fermentation by microorganisms, a
process which has high production costs.

The CAAS scientists ? funded by the state ? isolated the gene that
produces phytase from a species of the fungus Aspergillus, and inserted
it into corn.

Chen Rumei, of the Institute of Biotechnology under CAAS and a member of
the research team, said that when compared to other corn varieties, the
rate of seed germination, growth speed and yield of the GM corn were no
different.

She told SciDev.Net that, under current industry criteria for feed
additives, adding just a few grams of the GM corn seed per kilogram of
animal feed would be enough to satisfy livestock's nutritional demand
for phosphorus.

"If this technology is commercialised, Chinese farmers can save up to
450 million yuan (US$60 million) per year in buying industrial phytase
enzyme additives," Chen adds.

Li Zhensheng, former vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
and the chair of the Ministry of Agriculture team who evaluated the
project, says phosphorus pollution caused by animal waste has been a
serious problem, resulting in widespread algal blooms in the Chinese
lakes (see Pollution control key to beating China's algal blooms).

"If the phytase enzyme-rich feed produced from the GM corn is widely
applied, phosphorus pollution caused by animal waste will be
significantly reduced, and the ecology could be largely improved," Li
says.

China has not yet approved any GM corn for commercial sale.

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