High-throughput, low-cost, and event-specific polymerase chain reaction detection of herbicide tolerance in genetically modified soybean A2704-12.

The aim of this study was to develop an event-specific qualitative and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for detection of herbicide-tolerance genetically modified (GM) soybean A2704-12. The event-specific PCR primers were designed, based on the 5'-flanking integration sequence in the soybean genome, to amplify the 239-bp target fragment. Employing the same event-specific primers, qualitative PCR and real-time quantitative PCR detection methods were successfully developed. The results showed that the A2704-12 event could be specifically distinguished from other GM soybean events. In the qualitative PCR assay, the limit of detection was 0.05%, and in the real-time quantitative PCR assay, the limit of detection was less than 0.01%. Moreover, our genomic DNA (gDNA) extraction protocol is high-throughput, safe, and low-cost. The event-specific PCR assay system is cost-efficient by using SYBR Green I in real-time PCR, and by using the same primers in both the qualitative and quantitative PCR assays. We therefore developed a high-throughput, low-cost, and event-specific qualitative and quantitative PCR detection method for GM soybean A2704-12. The method would be useful for market supervision and management of GM soybean A2704-12 due to its high specificity and sensitivity.