Research and analysis

Qualifying higher plant notification (reference: 24/Q03)

Published 2 April 2024

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2024

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Notification requirement for release of qualifying higher plants

Information to be provided to the Secretary of State alongside a notice of intention to release a qualifying higher plant under schedule 3A of the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022

1. The title of the project.

Field assessment of dwarfed diploid potato lines.

2. The aim of the project (including any matters being investigated as part of the project).

Assessment of field performance of potatoes carrying a deletion leading to a dwarfed stature; quantification of dwarfed phenotype using aerial drone-based imaging; tuber harvest.

3. The full name of the qualifying higher plant to be released under the project, including:

(a) family name: Solanaceae

(b) genus: Solanum

(c) species: Solanum tuberosum

(d) subspecies: tuberosum

4. The expected date on which the project will start

April 2024

5. The expected duration of the project

April to October 2024 (with the possibility of extending for the same months in 2025 to 2026).

6. Confirmation that the person with overall responsibility for the project will put in place appropriate measures [footnote 1], as necessary, to minimise the possibility of material from the qualifying higher plant being placed on the market, for example by cross-fertilizing sexually compatible commercial crops.

The risk of being placed on the market is non-existent. Commercial potato propagation does not rely on true seed, which anyway develops majorly through self-pollination and rarely reaches maturation.

Moreover, no crop potatoes will be grown nearby, so an accidental cross-fertilisation, already quite unlikely even for plants grown next to each other, will not be possible.

Lastly, the diploid potatoes being tested in this study are research lines with very low tuber yields and tuber quality significantly below that of commercial varieties. The potato tubers recovered from the trial will be used for assessment only, or as seed for the subsequent trials of the same kind and will not enter the market in any way.

7. Confirmation that the person with overall responsibility for the project has read the guidance at ACRE guidance on genetic technologies that result in ‘qualifying higher plants’ and has assessed that the higher plants covered by this notification meet these criteria

Based on ACRE guidance, I confirm that the potato lines to be grown in this trial meet the criteria described.

  1. Notifiers may wish to refer to published ACRE advice concerning measures for the minimisation of cross-pollination from UK GMO crop trials authorised under retained EU legislation. ↩

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