<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Field Testing</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Tomato line 5345 was field tested in the United States from 1994 to 1997. Field trials were conducted to evaluate agronomic characteristics including plant height at crop maturity, yield, maturity dates and to assess inheritance and segregation of novel traits, protein toxin expression data, and its effects on both target and non-target organisms. Comparisons with non-transformed tomato lines determined that the agronomic traits for line 5345 were well within the range of unmodified tomato lines. The only significant consistent difference between the insect resistant tomato line 5345 and the unmodified parent variety was in the expression of the insect toxic protein Cry1Ac. Field data reports demonstrated that tomato line 5345 did not exhibit weedy characteristics, and had no effect on nontarget organisms or the general environment.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Outcrossing</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Cultivated tomatoes are self-fertile, and almost exclusively self-pollinating. Their unique flower and anther morphology makes tomato an essentially cleistogamous plant (self-pollination and fertilisation occur within an unopened flower). A low crossing rate between tomato varieties was demonstrated and attributed to the limited availability of pollen and poor foraging activity of insect pollinators.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Several related species are found as weeds in tomato fields, however, tomato (<i>Lycopersicon esculentum</i> var. esculentum) is generally sexually incompatible with all these weedy relatives. Two Solanum species, <i>S. lycopersicoides</i> and <i>S. rickii</i>, can be crossed with commercial tomato under specific, controlled conditions, but they do not naturally cross with <i>L. esculentum</i> and require the intervention of man. Neither Solanum species is a weed pest in the United States.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">The cherry tomato, <i>L. esculentum</i> var. cerasiforme can be crossed with tomato, <i>L. esculentum</i> var. esculentum. However, it would be very unlikely for tomato line 5345 to naturally introgress into cherry tomatoes (var. cerasiforme) in the United States since the rate of outcrossing in tomatoes is low and cherry tomatoes are not common in areas devoted to large scale cultivation of tomatoes.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">It was concluded that the chance of genetic exchange among tomato crops was small and outcrossing to other species, even more remote. In the event that an outcrossing event involving pollen from transgenic tomato line 5345 did occur, it was unlikely that the lepidopteran resistance trait would increase the plants weediness or change any physiology related to survival.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Weediness Potential</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Tomatoes are not considered a weed pest. There was no evidence to indicate that the introduced lepidopteran resistance trait in line 5345 would convert these tomato plants into weeds. Tomato volunteers are not uncommon, but are easily controlled using herbicides or by mechanical means. Seed dispersal by birds or mammals away from the crop is insignificant. Furthermore, due to its tropical origin, tomato is very sensitive to temperatures below 10oC and winter cold will kill the majority of volunteer seedlings following harvest. Tomatoes are not persistent in undisturbed environments without human intervention. It was concluded that there was no likelihood that tomato line 5345 would have enhanced weediness traits compared to non-transformed tomatoes.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Secondary and Non-Target Adverse Effects</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">It was concluded that the genes inserted into transgenic tomato line 5345 would not result in any deleterious effects or significant impacts on nontarget organisms, including those that are recognized as beneficial to agriculture and those that are recognized as threatened or endangered in the United States. The Cry1Ac toxin protein is not known to have any toxic properties against non- target organisms.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Impact on Biodiversity</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">The transgenic tomato line 5345 has no novel phenotypic characteristics that would extend its use beyond the current geographic range of tomato production. Since the risk of gene transfer to wild relatives in the United States is very remote, it was determined that the risk of transferring genetic traits of tomato line 5345 to species in unmanaged environments was not significant.</p>
