Herbicide resistance in weeds

Trebst, A. (1991). The molecular basis of resistance of photosystem II inhibitors. In J.C. Caseley, G.W. Cussans and R.K. Atkin, eds., Herbicide Resistance in Weeds and Crops. Boston Butterworth-Heinemann, pp. 145-164. 

LeBaron, H.M. and J. McFarland (1990). Herbicide resistance in weeds and crops An overview and prognosis, pp. 336-352. In Green, M.B., H.M. LeBaron, and W.K. Moberg, eds., Managing Resistance to Agrochemicals From Fundamental Research to Practical Strategies. Washington, DC American Chemical Society Symposium Series No. 421. 

Darmency, H. (1994). Genetics of herbicide resistance in weeds and crops. In Powles, S.B., and Holtum, J.A.M., eds, Herbicide Resistance in Plants Biology and Biochemistry. Boca Raton, FL Lewis Publications, pp. 263-298. 

Maxwell, B.D., M.L. Roush, and S.R. Radosevich (1990). Predicting the evolution and dynamics of herbicide resistance in weed populations. Weed Technol., 4 2-13. 

Putwain, P.D (1982). Herbicide resistance in weeds An inevitable consequence of herbicide use Proceedings 1982 British Crop Protection Conference - Weeds, pp. 719-728. 

Preston, C. and C.A. Mallory-Smith (2001). Biochemical mechanisms, inheritance, and molecular genetics of herbicide resistance in weeds. In Powles, S.B. and Shaner, D.L., eds., Herbicide Resistance and World Grains. Boca Raton, FL CRC Press, pp. 23-60. 

This paper reviews the major lessons learned concerning herbicide resistance in weeds, the current state of knowledge, and presents some possibile future scenarios for consideration. 

Table 1. Summary of confirmed cases of herbicide resistance in weeds, arranged by herbicide class and target site. From [1].

One might imagine the extensive development of herbicide resistance in weeds would have led to the development of new tools or agronomic practices to deal with the problem. Unfortunately, this is not the case. A variety of new approaches to weed control can be imagined, but in only a few cases has this translated into practical solutions that can be used to manage the problem in farmers fields. Some strategies proposed many years ago remain theoretical, with no clear examples to demonstrate practical utility. 

LeBARON AND McFARLAND Herbicide Resistance in Weeds and Crops... 

While most plants are susceptible to paraquat, some paraquat-resistant horseweed (Erigeron sp. and Conyza sp.) biotypes are apparently insensitive to the herbicide due either to elevated levels of superoxide dismutase and other enzymes in a pathway detoxifying oxygen radicals or to differential sequestration of paraquat in the weed (8, 9). Data on the mechanism of most other types of herbicide resistance in weeds are still not complete. 

Herbicide resistance in weeds can be useful, and has already been commercially transferred to crops by conventional breeding. 

Figure 9.5 The metabohsm of glutathione and homoglutathione conjugates in higher plants. [Reproduced from G. L. Lamoreux, R. H. Shimabukuro, and D. S. Frear Glutathione and Glucoside Conjugation in Herbicide Selectivity , in J. C. Caseley, G. W. Cussans, and R. K. Atkin, Eds., Herbicide Resistance in Weeds and Crops, Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd., Oxford, pp. 227-262. Copyright 1991, with permission from Elsevier.]...

In March 2006 the International Survey of Herbicide-Resistant Weeds recorded 305 herbicide-resistant biotypes with 182 weed species - 109 dicotyledonous and 73 monocotyledonous weeds [1]. The relatively steady increase in the number of new cases of resistance since 1980 accounts for the increasing importance of herbicide resistance in weeds in the major agricultural regions (Fig. 1.1). 

A. Trebst, in Herbicide Resistance in Weeds and Crops, eds. J. C. Caseley,... 

Preston, C., Mallory-Smith, C. A. Biochemical Mechanisms, Inheritance, and Molecular Genetics of Herbicide Resistance in Weeds in Herbicide Resistance and World Grains, Powles, S. B., Shaner, D. L. (Eds.),... 

Caseley J C, Atkin R K and Cussans G W, Herbicide Resistance in Weeds and Crops, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1991. 

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