J. Menéndez

Resistance to chlortoluron in a downy brome (Bromus tectorum) biotype

Abstract A downy brome population in a winter wheat field at Cordoba, Spain, survived use rates of chlortoluron (2.5 to 3.5 kg ai ha−1) over 2 consecutive yr, where wheat monoculture and multiple annual chlortoluron applications had been carried out. The resistant (CR) biotype showed a higher ED50 value (7.4 kg ai ha−1; the concentration required for 50% reduction of fresh weight) than the susceptible (S) control (2.2 kg ai ha−1), with a 3.4-fold increase in chlortoluron tolerance. Chlortoluron resistance in the CR downy brome biotype was not caused by altered absorption, translocation, or modification of the herbicide target site but by enhanced detoxification. The inhibition of both the recovery of photosynthetic electron transport and chlortoluron metabolism in the CR biotype due to the presence of the Cyt P450 inhibitor 1-aminobenzotriazole (ABT) indicates that herbicide metabolism catalyzed by Cyt P450 monooxygenases is related to chlortoluron resistance in CR plants. Although both biotypes degraded ...