Award details

Multiple Herbicide Resistance in Grass Weeds: from Genes to AgroEcosystems

Reference	BB/L001489/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Robert Edwards
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Professor Dylan Childs, Professor Robert Freckleton, Dr Louise Jones, Dr Paul Neve, Professor Kenneth Norris
Institution	Newcastle University
Department	Sch of Natural & Environmental Sciences
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	2,059,133
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/05/2014
End date	31/08/2018
Duration	52 months

Abstract

Our overarching aim is to provide solutions for urgent weed management issues in UK agriculture. Focussed on black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides), the project will improve our understanding of the evolutionary and agronomic factors underpinning the evolution of multiple herbicide resistance (MHR) induced by enhanced metabolism. We propose to study MHR at all levels, from its molecular genetic basis, through its inheritance, relationship to other weed characteristics, and ultimately its effects on weed numbers, farm management and the wider environment. We will address 5 major questions 1. What are the molecular mechanisms that underpin the evolution of metabolic herbicide resistance? We will develop molecular techniques that us to characterise MHR in the field and use this as the basis for forming the link between MHR evolution and management. 2. What is the extent of the herbicide resistance problem in UK black-grass populations and what impacts is MHR having on black-grass densities and crop yields? We will use large-scale farm surveys and assess the degree of MHR using molecular tools. 3. What are the genetic and ecological factors that promote and constrain the emergence of herbicide resistance? Quantitative genetic techniques will be used to determine the heritability of MHR and the covariance of this with other life-history characteristics. 4. What are the expected eco-evolutionary dynamics of black-grass populations under different management scenarios? We will develop new models that allow us to explore the possibilities for reducing the rate of evolution of resistance. 5. What are the economic and environmental consequences of novel weed and resistance management strategies? Using tools develop for environmental risk assessment, we will generate predictions for management that account for environmental and economic functions of agricultural systems.

Summary

In the advanced agricultural production systems of Northern Europe, weed control in cereal crops has become one of the greatest challenges to sustainable intensification, accounting for higher yield losses and greater input costs than all other biological constraints (pests and diseases). The most problematic weeds in cereals in Northern Europe are the wild grasses, notably black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides), which has become steadily more difficult to control over the last 30 years due to the evolution of herbicide resistance. This resistance assumes two forms: 1) Target site resistance (TSR), whereby the weeds become highly tolerant of herbicides due to mutations in the proteins targeted by these chemicals rendering them less sensitive to inhibition by that herbicide mode of action. 2) Metabolic or multiple herbicide resistance (MHR) where weeds become more tolerant of a broad range of herbicides, irrespective of their chemistry or mode of action, due to a general enhancement in the ability to detoxify crop protection agents. While TSR is now quite well understood and can be countered by the rotational use of herbicides with differing modes of action, the molecular basis and evolutionary drivers which promote MHR are poorly understood and the associated grass weeds very difficult to control using conventional methods. In this 4 year project, we propose to use a combination of molecular biology and biochemistry, ecology and evolution, modeling and integrated pest management to develop better tools to monitor and manage both TSR and MHR in black-grass under field conditions. The project represents a novel agri-systems approach, linking our latest understanding in the molecular biology of herbicide resistance to on farm monitoring and modeling based on a quantitative genetics approach to define the effectiveness of different intervention measures. Through a multidisciplinary consortium, we will integrate knowledge about MHR and TSR at the molecular and biochemical levels and relate this fundamental understanding to resistance phenotypes observed in the field. Selection and breeding experiments will examine the dynamics of selection for resistance, with the intention of determining the genetic architecture of MHR for the first time and its relation to other stresses and life history traits. Data from field monitoring and glasshouse studies will be integrated in ecological, evolutionary and management models with the ultimate aim to design novel management to prevent, delay or mitigate the evolution of herbicide resistance. Finally, the environmental and economic impacts of novel management will be explored. The project therefore has the primary goal of using state of the art approaches spanning molecular biology, weed science, modeling and agronomy to provide new resistance control measures within the life of the programme. The project is divided into 5 integrated work packages which will address the following questions 1. What are the molecular mechanisms that underpin the evolution of metabolic herbicide resistance? 2. What is the extent of the herbicide resistance problem in UK black-grass populations and what impacts is resistance having on black-grass populations and crop yields? 3. What are the genetic, ecological and agronomic factors that promote and constrain the emergence of herbicide resistance? 4. How can applied evolutionary models be used to manage herbicide resistance? 5. What are the economic and environmental consequences of novel weed and resistance management strategies? The major outputs will be: 1. A rapid diagnostic toolkit for the on-farm characterisation of herbicide resistance. 2. A resistance audit for the extent and distribution of resistance to the major herbicide modes of action in black-grass. 3. A suite of models to address key questions in the emergence and management of resistance. 4. Management recommendations, together with an analysis of their impacts.

Impact Summary

This project places a strong emphasis on the translation of its science content to tangible benefits to the sustainability of UK arable agriculture, with the impact of new strategies for weed resistance management being delivered within the life-time of the grant. In a recent comprehensive industry review conducted by the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA), weed control was identified as a key area with 89% of growers and 93% of advisors identifying it was a high or medium priority. The project is therefore directly addressing a major problem in UK agriculture as recognized by the user community. Building on this link to the real benefits of this programme, an understanding of the practical and socioeconomic needs of end users when developing new solutions is central to effective science translation and for these reasons the project will engage from its start with stakeholders. These interactions will steer the development of the applied outputs of the project, such as the development of practical 'in-field' diagnostics, setting the modeling scenarios for resistance management and understanding the wider consequences of new control measures. Who will benefit from this research ? By better understanding herbicide resistance in grass weeds and how to counteract it, stakeholders who will benefit from this project are the arable farming industry and related professional bodies, policy makers struggling with controlling herbicide resistance in the face of EU directives limiting agrochemical availability and non-government organizations (NGOs) interested in the consequences of sustainable intensification in arable agriculture and associated effects on the environment. An applied output of the work will be to develop new and rapid field diagnostics for different classes of resistance. In addition to the direct effect this will have on UK farmers having better decision making tools in addressing weed control issues, the development of these diagnostics has commercialpotential for the development of further products which can be used globally to counteract resistance. The other major impact of the programme will be raising the profile of UK weed research at a time when the respective plant science community is being encouraged to find new practical outlets for its work as well as increasing the awareness of resistance management in agriculture to both funding and policy setting bodies. How will these benefits be delivered ? Consortium members already have strong links with the prospective stakeholder beneficiaries. Throughout the project, full use will be made the links with the industrial sponsor of the project, the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA), with its broad ranging interactions with the arable farming community. As such, the HGCA will be a primary portal to allow the practical benefits of the project to be rapidly disseminated to end users on a continuous basis through a range of activities including regular 'blogs' . The consortium will also carry out a series of engagement activities with the farming community at agricultural dissemination forums, such as the annual Cereals event and has plans for a conference for stakeholders in the third year to directly disseminate progress on the project. Finally, the effectiveness of these engagement activities will be monitored n an annual basis through regular meetings of the consortium with its stakeholder group to assess the external impact of programme outputs.

Committee	Research Committee B (Plants, microbes, food & sustainability)
Research Topics	Crop Science, Plant Science, Systems Biology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Longer and Larger Grants (LoLas) [2007-2015]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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