Frontiers in Plant Science (Feb 2021)

First Case of Glyphosate Resistance in Bromus catharticus Vahl.: Examination of Endowing Resistance Mechanisms

  • Marcos Yanniccari,
  • Marcos Yanniccari,
  • José G. Vázquez-García,
  • María E. Gómez-Lobato,
  • María E. Gómez-Lobato,
  • Antonia M. Rojano-Delgado,
  • Pedro L. da C. A. Alves,
  • Rafael De Prado

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.617945
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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Bromus catharticus Vahl. has been used as a valuable forage crop, but it has also been noted as a weed of winter crops and an invader in several countries. In Argentina, a putative glyphosate-resistant population of B. catharticus was identified as a consequence of the lack of effective control with glyphosate in the pre-sowing of wheat. Plant survival and shikimate accumulation analysis demonstrated a lower glyphosate-sensitivity of this population in comparison to a susceptible B. catharticus population. The resistant population was 4-fold more resistant to glyphosate than its susceptible counterpart. There was no evidence of target-site mechanisms of glyphosate resistance or an enhanced capacity to metabolize glyphosate in the resistant population. However, the resistant plants showed a lower foliar retention of glyphosate (138.34 μl solution g−1 dry weight vs. 390.79 μl solution g−1 dry weight), a reduced absorption of 14C-glyphosate (54.18 vs. 73.56%) and lower translocation of 14C-glyphosate from the labeled leaf (27.70 vs. 62.36%). As a result, susceptible plants accumulated a 4.1-fold higher concentration of 14C-glyphosate in the roots compared to resistant plants. The current work describes the first worldwide case of glyphosate resistance in B. catharticus. A reduced foliar retention of herbicide, a differential rate of glyphosate entry into leaves and an altered glyphosate translocation pattern would be the most likely mechanisms of glyphosate exclusion.

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