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

<p style="text-align: justify;">The rice lines LLRICE06 and LLRICE62 were field tested in the United States (1997 and 1998) and compared to their non-transgenic counterparts for agronomic characteristics, seed emergence, number of volunteers, disease susceptibility, and insect susceptibility and no obvious differences were detected. None of the field observations indicated that these transgenic rice lines had any increased potential to pose a plant pest risk.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">Cultivated rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.) is primarily self-pollinating, although gene introgression into other cultivated rice is possible. Reported outcrossing rates are less than one percent and are limited by the biological characteristics of rice. Factors including flower morphology, inability of pollen to remain viable longer than a few minutes, and a lack of insect vectors for pollen spread contribute to the low propensity of rice to cross-pollinate.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">In the United States, the only wild species known to be compatible to cultivated rice are <i>O. rufipogon</i>, which has been found in a single location in the Everglades of Florida, and red rice, a wild variant of cultivated <i>O. sativa</i>. It was considered very unlikely that cultivated rice would hybridize with <i>O. rufipogon</i>, since it occurs in a single isolated habitat that is not close to rice production areas. Consequently, red rice is considered to be the only wild species in which gene introgression from transgenic rice could occur.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Red rice is considered a weedy species in the cultivation of rice, as the reproduction of red rice favours specific environmental conditions (such as flooded fields) that are typical in the cultivation of commercial rice. Outside of rice production areas, red rice is not a weed species, however, it was assessed to determine whether it could become a weed pest if it hybridized with the glufosinate tolerant LLRICE06 and LLRICE62.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Gene flow from cultivated rice into red rice can occur, although the rate is likely to be very low with levels being dependent on the degree of overlapping of flowering periods. Thus, it was possible for the bar gene conferring tolerance to glufosinate to introgress into red rice and result in a glufosinate?tolerant red rice population. It was determined that the presence of glufosinate tolerance in hybrid populations would not change the fitness characteristics nor increase weediness (<i>e.g.</i>, emergence vigor, final height, disease resistance, fecundity, shattering, and dormancy), except for a possible tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium. However, should this occurs, current weed control practices, such as tillage or other registered herbicides, would be an effective means of controlling the hybrid plants.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">No competitive advantage was conferred to rice lines LLRICE06 and LLRICE62 other than that conferred by resistance to glufosinate ammonium herbicides. Resistance to glufosinate ammonium will not, in itself, render rice plants weedy or invasive of natural habitats since none of the reproductive or growth characteristics were altered by the transformation.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Cultivated rice is not listed as a common, serious or principal weed or a weed of current or potential importance in the United States. The transformed rice is an annual, does not shatter or disperse its seed, and has not acquired extended dormancy.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">During field trials of LLRICE06 and LLRICE62, no toxicity or alteration of population levels were observed for beneficial insects, birds, or other species that frequent the fields. There were no qualitative differences between beneficial species populations present on transgenic and non-transgenic plants. Other than the production of the PAT enzyme, these plants were the same as the commercial rice varieties from which they were produced. The PAT enzyme has been extensively studied, and there have been no indications that it is toxic to organisms. Levels of the three known antinutrients found in rice (trypsin inhibitor, lectin, and phytic acid) were found to be in the expected range for transgenic seeds. Based on these findings, it was determined that these transgenic rice lines did not have a significant adverse impact on organisms beneficial to plants or agriculture, nontarget organisms, and were not expected to impact on threatened or endangered species.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">LLRICE06 and LLRICE62 have no novel phenotypic characteristics that would extend their use beyond the current geographic range of rice production. The cultivation of rice transformation events LLRICE06 and LLRICE62 would be equivalent to non-transgenic rice cultivars with respect to environmental impact.</p>
