September 7, 2020
They said it couldn’t be done – climbing Everest, flying to the moon and even deep-frying Mars bars. We were also told that we couldn’t reverse herbicide resistance. In the majority of cases, the experts are right – herbicide resistance is permanent, and we thought that was the case for all resistant weeds.
Until now…
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July 13, 2020
Welcome to the highlight reel of AHRI’s recently released blockbuster – ‘Don’t stick to it!’. Set in the labs, glasshouses and fields of this world-leading research powerhouse, and featuring renown giants of the herbicide resistance world – Powles, Busi, Yu and Owen, this latest exposé will have you seriously impressed!
‘Don’t stick to it!’ delves into five years of ground-breaking scientific discovery and its value to Australian farmers in their epic battle against profit-sucking weeds.
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June 30, 2020
This AHRI insight is not for the faint-hearted. It is the work of AHRI researcher, Dr Danica Goggin who has dedicated many years to working out how auxin herbicides such as 2,4-D and Dicamba work, and how plants evolve resistance to them.
Danica’s research found that plants with fewer receptors on their cell membranes were resistant to 2,4-D due to reduced perception of the 2,4-D.
Putting this molecular biology research into words is challenging, so we have created some videos that explain it.
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June 15, 2020
It’s a quaint tradition that many brides follow – ‘Something old; represents continuity with the past and ‘Something new’ offers optimism for the future. ‘Something borrowed’ passes on another’s secrets for success and ‘Something blue’ represent key features of a solid relationship. Finally, ‘A sixpence in your shoe’ for prosperity. With the release of several new modes of action and chemical formulations, it’s helpful to first consider how these ‘new’ chemicals might revive some ‘old’ chemistry.
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April 7, 2020
In 1999 I was refuelling my car at a petrol station in Geraldton when I bumped into Dave, a technician with the local Department of Ag. Dave told me he had just returned from a trial where wild radish had survived 600 mL/ha of diflufenican (e.g. Brodal®). This was three times the maximum label rate and six times the common use rate at the time. I could see the entire lupin industry unravelling in front of my eyes. Lupins were a huge success story on our sandplain soils in the area, wild radish was their main Achilles heel…
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February 12, 2020
The first resistance to HPPD herbicides in wild radish has now been discovered by AHRI researchers led by PhD candidate Huan Lu. Wild radish is just the third weed in the world to evolve resistance to this group of herbicides. The wild radish in this research was resistant to several other groups of herbicides which may have led to metabolic resistance to HPPD.
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November 11, 2019
Wine casks, plastic banknotes, WiFi, the refrigerator, lawnmower and the humble ute (pickup truck) are all Australian, world-first inventions. Which of these makes the biggest difference in your life? As long as it’s not the wine cask you’re doing just fine!
We now have a world first in herbicide resistance. research by visiting Chinese researcher to AHRI, Dr Pan Lang under the watchful eye of Qin Yu, concluded that they were looking at the world’s first case of metabolism-based resistance to glyphosate. The culprit? Click through to find out!
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September 10, 2019
Huan Lu’s been investigating a population of wild radish that has the infamous Ser-264-gly mutation. This is the target-site mutation that is behind TT canola and makes wild radish highly resistant to PSII-inhibiting herbicides like atrazine and, to a lesser extent, metribuzin.
But, he wondered if there was more to this resistance than first meets the eye. Does focusing on the strong 264 mutation mean that we could fail to identify other important resistance mechanisms?
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April 15, 2019
We once thought that the genetics of eye colour was simple. Both parents have blue eyes, therefore, all of their children will have blue eyes. Easy peasy! Then science progressed and we realised that it isn’t actually that simple because several genes are involved. The genetics of herbicide resistance was simple. One parent is resistant to a herbicide, therefore, all of the offspring will be resistant because the gene is dominant or semi-dominant. This is true for almost all cases of herbicide resistance and was easy to understand. Until now. Click to read more about PhD student Jinyi Chen’s research.
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February 19, 2019
By Peter Newman Alexander Graham Bell famously said, “When one door closes another door opens, but we so often look so long and so regretfully…
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