Agronomic and compositional assessment of genetically modified DP23211 maize for corn rootworm control

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Biotechnology
• Genetics

Background:

• Genetically modified (GM) crops offer targeted pest and weed management solutions.
• DP23211 maize is engineered with DvSSJ1 dsRNA and IPD072Aa for corn rootworm control.
• It also possesses phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) for glufosinate tolerance and phosphomannose isomerase (PMI) as a selectable marker.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the agronomic performance and compositional profile of DP23211 maize.
• To compare DP23211 maize against near-isoline and commercial non-GM maize controls.
• To determine the substantial equivalence of DP23211 maize to conventional maize.

Main Methods:

• Multi-location field trials across 12 representative U.S. and Canadian sites in 2018.
• Assessment of standard agronomic endpoints.
• Comprehensive compositional analysis of grain and forage, including proximates, fibers, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, anti-nutrients, and secondary metabolites.

Main Results:

• Minor agronomic endpoint variations were not biologically relevant after false discovery rate adjustment.
• A few composition analytes showed statistical significance but were not significant after FDR adjustment.
• All evaluated analyte values for DP23211 maize fell within established ranges of natural variation.

Conclusions:

• DP23211 maize is compositionally substantially equivalent to conventional maize.
• The genetic modifications did not result in biologically relevant alterations in agronomic or compositional profiles.
• DP23211 maize presents a safe and comparable alternative to non-GM maize varieties.