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Information System for Agriculture and Food Research

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Joint project: cyanophycin-producing effects of growing transgenic potatoes in the field

Collaborative Project



Coordinating institution: Department of Agrobiotechnology

This project aims to investigate whether the cultivation of genetically modified potatoes that produce cyanophycin in their tubers alters the chemical characteristics of the soil and the composition of the micro-organism communities in the soil. Cyanophycin is a biopolymer that is used for various industrial applications. In nature the protein cyanophycin is produced by blue-green algae and therefore does not normally occur in arable soil. In the genetically modified potato it is stored at the expense of the carbohydrates that are so abundant in the tuber. The breakdown of cyanophycin in the soil is likely to promote other micro-organisms than those promoted during the breakdown of carbohydrates.

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Collaborative Projects

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