CSIRO applied to, but didn't, import wheat virus

CSIRO was awarded a licence in 2001 to conduct a genetic research project using the wheat streak mosaic virus which is infesting a growing number of plant research facilities.

The virus was one of a number of plant viruses listed for the gene silencing project, but ultimately it was not imported as researchers focused on other alternatives, according to CSIRO Plant Industry assistant chief Dr TJ Higgins.

According to the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator's records, CSIRO won approval for a project using virus vectors for gene silencing in plants.

The OGTR documentation lists the wheat streak mosaic virus as one of the organisms on which researchers were licensed to work. The project carries the designation GMAC 5607 under the Dealings Not Involving Release (DNIR) section of the OGTR website and the licence is valid from June 2001 to June 2003. DNIR refers to genetically modified organisms which must be used in contained facilities and not intentionally released into the environment.

The conditions for CSIRO's virus-induced gene silencing project required it to be carried out in a PC2 physical containment level, which is at the low end of the scale for such facilities.

CSIRO this week confirmed the existence of the gene silencing project but denied it was a possible source of the wheat streak mosaic virus outbreak which has surfaced at research facilities in the ACT, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria.

Plant Health Australia is now coordinating a major campaign of testing and surveillance to survey the extent of the virus outbreak and to determine the feasibility of eradicating it.

There is a possibility that the virus has been resident in Australia at a low level for some time without being noticed.

That already appears to the case with the only known transmitter of the virus, the wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella. Until recently, Australia was thought to be free of the mite, but it is now known to have been widespread in Australia since the early 1990s, according to CSIRO mite researcher Dr Bruce Halliday.