Herbicide-tolerant maize (NK603)

The applicant, Monsanto Company, presented a safety dossier for the genetically modified maize line NK603. This dossier contains molecular biological, nutritional and toxicological information. The reference is a conventional maize line with a history of safe use within the European Union.

The modified maize line differs from a conventional line, due to the presence of the cp4 epsps gene and its expression product, the CP4 EPSPS protein. The inserted gene is of bacterial origin and renders the maize plant tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate. Two consecutive copies of this gene are present at a single location in the DNA of NK603 maize.