UK: Gene discovery offers hope for weed control

The following is an edited excerpt.

British scientists have discovered a gene called AmGSTF1 that could make weed killers more effective against resistant weeds.

Black-grass and rye-grass are both widespread and serious weed problems in cereal and oilseed rape rotations. Control using weed killers is becoming increasingly problematic, with an estimated 1.2 million ha of UK land now infested with black-grass. Both black-grass and rye-grass can acquire a single defence mechanism that confers resistance to all weed killers, whatever their mode of action (MHR).

The genetics of MHR has been little understood until now.

Read the full story here: Discovery of a gene that controls black-grass resistance offers prospect of better weed control

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