| Current safety assessment for novel crops, including transgenic crops, uses a targeted approach, which determines crop safeness by assessing the content of a few specific chemical components. However, microarray technology can simultaneously assess the whole transcriptome and can therefore be used to analyze target genes as well as unintended effects. In this study, we used this technique as a non-targeted approach. Gene expression data from a microarray experiment with five soybean cultivars was analyzed using bioinformatics. Two cultivars were transgenic (RoundUpRTM) and three were non-transgenic. We show that the variation in gene expression between transgenic and non-transgenic soybean is less than that between non-transgenic cultivars. A MySQL database coupled with CGI web interfaces was developed to store and present the results (http://thor.agrenv.mcgill.ca/cgi-bin/soy/soybean.cgi). By integrating the microarray data with gene annotations and other soybean data, a comprehensive view of differences in gene expression can be explored between cultivars. |
