Overreliance on tribenuron has resulted in resistance evolution in water
starwort. This study investigates the resistance mechanisms to tribenuron in
water starwort populations from China. The cytochrome P450 monooxygenase
(P450) inhibitor malathion increased tribenuron sensitivity in all
populations. The decrease in the amount of herbicide dose that causes 50%
growth reduction (GR50) for the sensitive (S) population JS24 and
the resistant (R) populations JS16 and JS17 were 2.3-, 2.5-, and 4.1-fold,
respectively. However, the GR50 values for the R populations were
still much higher than those of the S population. This observation indicates
that P450-mediated enhanced metabolism is one mechanism for resistance in
water starwort. The glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity could be
induced by tribenuron for all tested populations. In particular, the GST
activity of JS16 is inherently greater and is more rapidly induced than that
of JS17 or JS24. Resistance attributed to mutant acetolactate synthase (ALS)
alleles was identified by sequence analysis for each population. Pro197Ser
substitution was detected in JS16 and JS17. Molecular markers were also
developed to rapidly identify resistance as well as individuals carrying the
specific Pro197Ser mutation in water starwort populations. The resistance
patterns experiment revealed that the R populations exhibited different
levels of resistance to pyrithiobac sodium salt, florasulam, pyroxsulam, and
flucarbazone-Na; however, R populations were sensitive to imazethapyr,
fluroxypyr-meptyl, 2,4-D butylate, isoproturon, and diflufenican. This study
establishes that either one or at least two resistance mechanisms are
involved in herbicide resistance in water starwort. Moreover, these
mechanisms might contribute to the different levels of resistance to
tribenuron among water starwort populations.