glyphosate

This is the first report of low-dose glyphosate selection causing a shift towards paraquat resistance. Herbicide resistance in weed species is a serious threat to world agriculture. We report rapid resistance evolution in the genetically variable cross-pollinated grass weed Lolium rigidum when recurrently selected with low doses.

In a world of more than 6 billion people, humans heavily rely on the dependable cultivation of the global food grain crops: rice, wheat, soybeans, maize (and cotton for fiber). History shows that threats to food production have major repercussions, including famine, war, and civil unrest.

Glyphosate-resistance evolution in weeds is evident globally, especially in areas where transgenic glyphosate-resistant crops dominate. Resistance to glyphosate is currently known in 16 weed species, including rigid ryegrass in Australia.

In Australia, glyphosate has been used routinely to control wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum L.) for the past 40 years. This study focuses on two field-evolved glyphosate-resistant populations of wild radish collected from the grainbelt of Western Australia.