An important aspect of ecological safety of genetically
modified
(GM) plants is the evaluation of unintended effects on plant–insect
interactions. These interactions are to a large extent influenced
by the chemical composition of plants. This study uses NMR-based metabolomics
to establish a baseline of chemical variation to which differences
between a GM potato line and its parent cultivar are compared. The
effects of leaf age, virus infection, and aphid herbivory on plant
metabolomes were studied. The metabolome of the GM line differed from
its parent only in young leaves of noninfected plants. This effect
was small when compared to the baseline. Consistently, aphid performance
on excised leaves was influenced by leaf age, while no difference
in performance was found between GM and non-GM plants. The metabolomic
baseline approach is concluded to be a useful tool in ecological safety
assessment
