Wild oat is the second-most abundant, but most economically important, weed
across the Canadian Prairies of western Canada. Despite the serious economic
effects of resistance to acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) or acetolactate
synthase (ALS) inhibitors or both in this weed throughout the Northern Great
Plains of North America, little research has examined the basis for
herbicide resistance. We investigated target-site and nontarget-site
mechanisms conferring ACC- and ALS-inhibitor resistance in 16 wild oat
populations from across western Canada (four ACC-inhibitor resistant, four
ALS-inhibitor resistant, and eight ACC- and ALS-inhibitor resistant). The
ACC1 mutations were found in 8 of the 12 ACC
inhibitor-resistant populations. The Ile1781Leu mutation was detected in
three populations, the Trp2027Cys and Asp2078Gly mutations were in two
populations each, and the Trp1999Cys, Ile2041Asn, Cys2088Arg, and Gly2096Ser
substitutions were in one population each. Three populations had two
ACC1 mutations. Only 2 of the 12 ALS inhibitor-resistant
populations had an ALS target-site mutation—Ser653Thr and
Ser653Asn substitutions. This is the first global report of
ALS target-site mutations in Avena spp.
and four previously undocumented ACC1 mutations in wild
oat. Based on these molecular analyses, seedlings of five ACC + ALS
inhibitor-resistant populations (one with an ACC1 mutation;
four with no ACC or ALS mutations) were
treated with malathion, a known cytochrome P450 monooxygenase inhibitor,
followed by application of one of four ACC- or ALS-inhibiting herbicides.
Malathion treatment often resulted in control or suppression of these
populations, suggesting involvement of this enzyme system in contributing to
resistance to both ACC and ALS inhibitors.