Maize MON87427 was developed by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of immature maize embryos. The resulting GM maize expresses 5-enolpyruvyl-shikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) from Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4, which confers tolerance to the herbicidal active substance glyphosate.

An added feature of the genetic modification in MON87427 is that the regulatory elements driving expression of the cp4-epsps gene permit no, or only very low, expression of the CP4 EPSPS protein in pollen tissue. This means that inbred lines containing the MON84727 transformation event can be sprayed with glyphosate at a critical developmental stage to produce male sterile female parents for use in hybrid seed production programs.

The molecular characterisation data established that maize MON87427 contains a single insert consisting of the CP4-epsps expression cassette. No other parts of the plasmid used for transformation were detected in maize MON87427.