<p style="text-align: justify;">The spring wheat variety MON 71800 (Roundup Ready&reg; wheat) was developed to allow the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup&reg;, as a weed control option in spring wheat. This genetically engineered wheat variety contains a glyphosate-tolerant form of the plant enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), isolated from the soil bacterium <i>Agrobacterium tumefaciens</i> strain CP4. The novel form of this enzyme is termed hereafter CP4 EPSPS.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">The EPSPS enzyme is part of the shikimate pathway that is involved in the production of aromatic amino acids and other aromatic compounds in plants (Steinrucken and Amrhein, 1980). When conventional plants are treated with glyphosate, the herbicide binds to EPSPS, thereby preventing the synthesis of aromatic amino acids needed for plant growth. The CP4 EPSPS enzyme in MON 71800 spring wheat has a reduced affinity for glyphosate; its enzymatic activity is therefore not hindered by the herbicide.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">EPSPS is present in all plants, bacteria, fungi, but not in animals, which do not synthesize their own aromatic amino acids. Because the aromatic amino acid biosynthetic pathway is not present in mammalian, avian or aquatic life forms, glyphosate has little if any toxicity for these organisms (U.S. EPA, 1993; WHO, 1994; Williams et al. 2000). The EPSPS enzyme is normally present in food derived from plant and microbial sources.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">MON 71800 was developed by introducing the CP4 EPSPS coding sequences into the spring wheat variety &lsquo;Bobwhite&rsquo; using <i>Agrobacterium</i>-mediated transformation.</p>
