Living modified organisms(LMO) by modern biotechnology has played a highly visible role. But the public concerns relating to the environmental risk of LMO have been raised because of the potential benefits of this new technology. The recently adapted Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety contains an Annex on risk assessment, which specifies in some detail points to consider. All LMO should be evaluated according to their biological properties(phenotypic, genetic, agronomic and ecological characteristics) before release to the environment. To build up the capacity building of risk assessment method for LMO used environmental remediation, we engineered a model plant, Solanum nigrum L. expressing organomercurial lyase gene(merB). MerB transforms methylmercury to less toxic, non-biomagnified ionic mercury. In this report, we compared 8 different phenotypic, agronomic characteristics and rhizosphere microorganisms with control. The difference between transgenic and non-transgenic plant has not found.

• Kyung Hwa choi(Incheon, National Institute of Environmental Research) coresponding author
• Yongho Kim(Incheon, National Institute of Environmental Research)
• Hyen Mi Chung(Incheon, National Institute of Environmental Research)
• Hyun Soon Kim(Daejeon, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology)
• Jae Heung Jeon(Daejeon, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology)