Cheap and Effective Technique to Detect Herbicide-Resistance

When herbicides are regularly applied to a field, some weeds develop herbicide-resistance, one of the major threats to conventional agricultural practices. More than 305 types of weed in more than 50 countries have been reported to be resistant to at least one herbicide.

Scientists at the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (DPI), together with a team of researchers from Japan, investigated a technique called eco-tilling and found it offers a quick, cheap and reliable means of detecting early signs of herbicide resistance in weeds. The group examined wild oats and rye grass in the Australian cropping system, and weeds in rice fields in Japan. Unlike the traditional molecular approach, eco-tilling uses reverse genetics. Genes are not fully sequenced; instead, mutations in genes are identified purely on the basis of their position in the genome.

Dr. Mui-Keng Tan said that new mutations can be easily detected, and known ones can be screened for a fraction of the cost of alternative genetic methods. The eco-tilling technique test for resistance could help farmers to manage herbicide use in crop rotations more economically and effectively.

To read more, visit http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/updates/issues/august-2007/ecotill-detects-resistance.