Characterization and comparison of transgenic Artemisia annua GYR and wild-type NON-GYR plants in an environmental release trial

The anti-malarial drug, artemisinin, is quite expensive as a result of its slow content in Artemisia annua. Recent investigations have suggested that genetic engineering of A. annua is a promising approach to improve the yield of artemisinin. In this study, the transgenic A. annua strain GYR, which has high artemisinin content, was evaluated in an environmental release trial. First, GYR plants were compared with the wild-type variety NON-GYR, with regard to phenotypic characters (plant height, crown width, stem diameter, germination rate, leaf dry weight, 1000-seed weight, leave shape). Second, stress resistance in the two varieties (salt, drought, herbicide, and cold resistance) was evaluated under different experimental conditions. Finally, gene