♦0) DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES 
$.1 Proposed Action 
The proposed action is NIH approval of the field test proposed by Agracetus 
in their submission of August 19, 1983, with additional information supplied 
on October 21, 1983, and April 29, 1985. 
This will involve field testing of Havana 425 tobacco containing T-DNA 
with a yeast alcohol dehydrogenase gene and a bacterial aminoglycoside 
phosphotransferase gene inserted in the cytokinin gene. In the proposed 
field test the genetically engineered tobacco will be grown at the test site 
in Wisconsin in alternate rows with the unaltered parent, Havana 425, in a 
plot of about 0.02 hectares (0.05 acres) surrounded by soybeans (Figure 1). 
After harvest, plant material will be removed from the plot and will be 
destroyed by autoclaving. Roots and stumps of field tobacco are normally 
killed by freezing and do not survive a Wisconsin winter. Such material can 
be removed from the plot and autoclaved if for any reason such action 
seems warranted. Seed production by the tobacco in the plot will be 
prevented by removing tops of the plants ("topping," the normal practice 
for Wisconsin tobacco). Seed will be saved from a small number of 
experimental plants and controls. The flowering stalks of such plants will 
be enclosed in cloth bags before flowers open to prevent entry or escape of 
pollen. 
The plants to be tested are tobacco grown from seeds containing T-DNA 
modified by genetic engineering to "destroy" the cytokinin gene. 
Environmental Assessment 
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