Colorado Potato Beetle Resistant Bt Potato

The Colorado Potato Beetle Resistant Bt Potato is a genetically engineered Bt potato that produces its own insecticide. The insecticide is the same chemical that is naturally produced by the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). It is intended to provide kill the Colorado Potato Beetle.

History

 * September 14, 1994: Monsanto petitions the USDA to deregulate seven genetically engineered Russet Burbank potato lines (BT6, BT10, BT12, BT16, BT17, BT18, and BT23)
 * March 2, 1995: The USDA deregulates Monsanto's seven lines of Russet Burbank potatoes.
 * December 4, 1995: Monsanto petitions the USDA to deregulate seven more varieties of Bt potatoes, two lines of Superior potatoes (SBT02-5 & -7) and five lines of Atlantic potatoes (ATBT04-6 &-27, -30, -31, -36).
 * May 3, 1996: The USDA deregulates the additional seven varieties of Atlantic and Superior potatoes.
 * July 23, 1997: Monsanto petitions the USDA to deregulate seven lines of "NewLeaf" genetically modified Russet Burbank potatoes (RBMT21-129 & RBMT21-350), which are genetically engineered for resistance to the Colorado Potato Beetle (CPB) and Potato Leaf Roll Virus (PLRV).
 * December 5, 1997: Monsanto petitions the USDA to deregulate its NewLeaf Y Potato, which is genetically engineered for resistance to the Colorado Potato Beetle (CPB) and Potato Virus Y (PVY).
 * December 3, 1998: The USDA deregulates the NewLeaf Potato
 * June 22, 1999: Monsanto petitions the USDA to deregulate the NewLeaf Plus Potato, which is genetically engineered for resistance to the Colorado Potato beetle (CPB) and Potato Leaf Roll Virus (PLRV).
 * July 17, 2000: The USDA deregulates the NewLeaf Plus Potato.

1995: Monsanto's Bt Russet Burbank Potato
On September 14, 1994, Monsanto petitioned the USDA to deregulate seven genetically engineered Russet Burbank potato lines (BT6, BT10, BT12, BT16, BT17, BT18, and BT23). The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a notice in the Federal Register on December 2, 1994 announcing that the petition was available for public review. The notice solicited public comments, due on or before January 31, 1995. APHIS prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the reached a "finding of no significant impact" (FONSI). APHIS deregulated (i.e. legalized for commercial sale and planting with no restrictions) the seven lines of Bt potatoes on March 2, 1995.

In its announcement of the potatoes' deregulation, APHIS described the potato, which was engineered for resistance to the Colorado Potato Beetle (CPB). It was genetically engineered to produce the same insecticide as the bacteria Btt (Bacillus thuringiensis tenebrionis). APHIS wrote that it "encodes a highly selective insecticidal delta-endotoxin crystalline protein, CryIIIA. This insect control protein is identical in amino acid sequence to one of the proteins naturally produced by Btt and found in commercial microbial Btt formulations." It is enhanced by the 35S promoter derived from the plant pathogen cauliflower mosaic virus and by the nontranslated region of the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase referred to as the E9 3' derived from pea plants. The CPB-resistant potato lines also express a selectable marker gene derived from the prokaryotic transposon Tn5 encoding the enzyme neomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII). The expression of the nptII gene in the subject potat lines is regulated by the 35S promoter and the nontranslated 3' region of the nopaline synthase gene derived from the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The expression of the nptII in the subject potato lines allows for selective growth of transgenic plant cells on the antibiotic kanamycin during plant tissue culture. These genes were stably transferred into the genome of potato plants through an A. tumefaciens-mediated transformation."

1996: Monsanto's Bt Atlantic and Superior Potatoes
On May 3, 1996, the USDA deregulated seven more varieties of Bt potatoes, two lines of Superior potatoes (SBT02-5 & -7) and five lines of Atlantic potatoes (ATBT04-6 &-27, -30, -31, -36). All were genetically engineered by Monsanto to produce the CryIIIA protein to kill the Colorado potato beetle. Monsanto submitted its petition to deregulate the two Superior potato lines on December 4, 1995, and an amendment to include the five Atlantic potato lines on December 15, 1995. The USDA published a notice of the petitions in the federal register on January 22, 1996. The USDA performed an Environmental Assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act and concluded a "finding of no significant impact" (FONSI).

Controversies
For more information, see the pages on Bt Crops and Genetically Modified Organisms

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