Canola event 73496 was developed through microprojectile bombardment of embryonic microspores with a DNA fragment containing only the gat4621 gene and its regulatory elements.

The gat4621 gene encodes a glyphosate acetyltransferase enzyme, GAT4621, which is derived from Bacillus licheniformis enzymes. GAT4621 acetylates the herbicide glyphosate, rendering it non-phytotoxic and conferring glyphosate herbicide tolerance to the plant.

Molecular characterization by Southern blot analysis demonstrated that canola event 73496 contains one intact copy of the gat4621 gene cassette at a single site in the canola genome. No additional elements, including intact or partial DNA fragments of the gat4621 gene cassette or backbone sequences from the vector, linked or unlinked to the intact insert, were detected in canola event 73496.

The stability of the inserted DNA in canola event 73496 was demonstrated by Southern blot analysis across five generations.