eported, the possibility of this occurring in nature still
remains unclear.
A transgenic watermelon has been developed for use as
rootstock resistant to cucumber green mottle mosaic virus
(CGMMV), which considerably reduces the yields of
Cucurbitaceae crops (Park et al. 2005). Field tests for virus
resistance and gene flow from transgenic to non-transgenic
watermelon have been published already (Park et al. 2007;
Kim et al. 2008). Here, we evaluated the persistence of
those transgenes within the leaves and rootstocks of
transgenic watermelon in field soil. We also assessed gene
transfer from decomposing watermelon tissues to soil
bacteria.