Canola is a crop globally used for production of oil and biofuel. Cultivation area and import volume of living modified (LM) canola have been increasing every year. As canola import dependence has reached 100% in Korea, efforts have been made for safety management of LM canola and ecological risk assessment. We developed a set of multiplex PCR method for simultaneous detection of 5 LM canola events (Topas 19/2, Rf3, Ms8, RT73 and T45) approved in Korea. The multiplex PCR assay developed allows amplification of estimated products of 5 LM canolas from event specific primer sets. Primer extension time was skipped for a time-consuming process and two annealing steps (20 cycles at 55°C and 20 cycles at 60°C) were performed for yielding the best result which was sufficient to distinguish five LM canolas. Our results suggest that multiplex PCR method provides a cost and time-effective approach for LM canola detection.

Keywords: LM, canola, event, detection, multiplex PCR