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

<p style="text-align: justify;">The transgenic cotton lines 1445 and 1698 were field tested in the United States (1991-1994). Compared with non-transgenic control lines, susceptibilities to diseases such as bacterial blight, boll rot, Verticillium wilt, and Ascochyta blight were unchanged. Similarly, no differences were noted in the susceptibility of the transformed cotton lines to insect pests, such as aphids, fleahoppers, boll weevils, tobacco budworm, cotton bollworm, and thrips, when compared to non-transformed cotton lines. Reports demonstrated that the cotton lines 1445 and 1698 did not exhibit weedy characteristics, and had no effect on nontarget organisms or the general environment relative to conventional cotton varieties.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">Cotton (<i>Gossypium hirsutum</i>) is mainly a self-pollinating plant, but pollen is also routinely transferred by insects, especially bumble bees and honey bees. The pollen is heavy and sticky and the range of natural crossing is limited. Outcrossing rates of up to 28% to other cotton cultivars have been observed under field conditions and decline rapidly with distance from the pollen source. Given proximity and the availability of insects as pollen vectors, transgenic cotton lines 1445 and 1698 are likely to hybridize with other cotton varieties.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">In the United States, compatible species include <i>G. hirsutum</i> (wild or under cultivation), <i>G. barbadense</i> (cultivated Pima cotton), and <i>G. tomentosum</i>. There are no wild relatives or wild populations of cotton in Canada that can naturally hybridize with <i>G. hirsutum</i>. It was reported that gene movement from <i>G. hirsutum</i> to <i>G. barbadense</i> may be possible given suitable conditions, while gene transfer to <i>G. tomentosum</i> is less probable due to chromosomal incompatibility and non-synchronous flowering periods. Overall, the probability of gene transfer in the wild is unlikely due to the relatively isolated distribution of Gossypium species, different breeding systems, and genome incompatibility. Hybrids resulting from artificial crosses between cotton and wild species are generally sterile, unstable and of poor fitness.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">The CP4 EPSPS and NPTII encoding genes are not expected to confer an ecological advantage to transgenic cotton lines 1445 and 1698 and their potential hybrid offspring. Tolerance to glyphosate and resistance to kanamycin will not render cotton weedy or invasive of natural habitats since none of the reproductive or growth characteristics have been modified. Field trial reports indicated that traits that may confer a selective advantage, such as germination, vegetative vigour, disease and insect susceptibility, and reproduction, were equivalent to non-modified varieties.<br />
There are no specific problems with cotton as a weed. Cottonseed may remain in the field after harvesting and germinate under favourable conditions. Seeds may also survive mild and dry winters. Suitable treatments for any volunteers in the next crop include cultivation and the use of herbicides other than glyphosate.</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 the transgenic cotton lines 1445 and 1698 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 and Canada. The CP4 EPSPS enzyme is ubiquitous in microorganisms, fungi and plants, and was rapidly inactivated in mammalian stomach and intestinal fluids by enzymatic degradation and pH-mediated proteolysis. Exposure of non-target species to seeds was considered very low, due to the morphology of the boll. Feeding studies with birds (seeds) and mammals (both proteins) did not indicate any acute toxicity of the proteins, which also occur ubiquitously in the environment in plants and microorganisms.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">The transgenic cotton lines 1445 and 1698 had no novel phenotypic characteristics that would extend their use beyond the current geographic range of cotton production. Since there is no occurrence of wild relatives of cotton in Canada, there will be no transfer of novel traits to unmanaged environments. Similarly, as 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 from cotton lines 1445 and 1698 to species in unmanaged environments was insignificant.</p>
