Transgenic Sugarbeets

Transgenic sugarbeets are beets that have been genetically altered through the use of recombinant DNA. Two types of transgenic beets were tested at the MSU Eastern Ag Research Center in 1997, Liberty-Link (LL) which confers resistance to the general herbicide Liberty, and Roundup-Ready (RR), which confers resistance to the herbicide Roundup.

Plots were planted on 8 May 1997. Herbicides were applied at two-leaf stage (28 May) and six-leaf stage (10 June), with Liberty applied to Liberty-Link sugarbeets, Roundup applied to Roundup-Ready sugarbeets, and Betamix applied to conventional sugarbeets. Rates used were: Liberty, 1 pt/acre; Round Up, 1.5 pt/acre; and Betamix 1.5 pt/acre. Seedling stands were counted before and after each spray treatment to evaluate response to the herbicides. The site was furrow-flood irrigated as needed. Plots were harvested on 15 September1997.

Sugarbeets with the LL gene that were sprayed with Liberty produced about 800 lbs of sugar per acre more than the same variety without the LL gene that was sprayed with Beta-mix. Sugarbeets with the RR gene that were sprayed with Roundup produced about 550 lbs of sugar per acre more than the same variety without the RR gene. These preliminary data indicate that the herbicide resistant genes did not reduce yield or quality of the sugarbeet varieties tested.

Yield and quality of transgenic and conventional sugarbeets.

Variety	Percent sucrose	Root Yield T/acre	Gross Sucrose yield Lb/acre	Loss to Molasses	Estimated sucrose yield Lb/acre
Beta 1996LL1	16.25	22.7	7366	0.91	6952
Beta 1996	15.81	20.6	6530	0.98	6123
HM100RR2	15.95	24.4	7780	1.02	7281
Empire	16.41	22.0	7232	0.92	6822
HM101RR2	15.87	22.9	7270	1.10	6767
CV s/mean p-value LSD0.05	2.8 0.038 0.46	10.2 0.039 2.4	11.0 0.051 819	10.7 0.004 0.11	11.0 0.050 766
1Liberty-Link 2Roundup-Ready