Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) is an invasive species widely spread in croplands worldwide. The intensive use of glyphosate has resulted in the selection of resistance to this herbicide in Italian ryegrass. This work characterized the response to glyphosate of Italian ryegrass populations from the South and Southwest regions of Paraná, Brazil. A total of 44 Italian ryegrass populations were collected in farming areas, and were classified for glyphosate resistance with 75% of populations resistant to gloyphosate. Of these, 3 resistant (VT05AR, MR20AR and RN01AR) and three susceptible (VT07AS, MR05AS and RN01AS) of these populations were selected to determine the resistance level and the involvement of the target site mechanisms for glyphosate resistance. Susceptible populations GR50 ranged from 165.66 to 218.17 g.e.a. ha-1 and resistant populations from 569.37 to 925.94, providing RI ranging from 2.88 and 4.70. No mutation in EPSPS was observed in the populations, however, in two (MR20AR and RN02AR) of the three resistant populations, an increase in the number of copies of the EPSPs gene (11 to 57×) was detected. The number of copies showed a positive correlation with the gene expression (R2 = 0.86) and with the GR50 of the populations (R2 = 0.81). The increase in EPSPS gene copies contributes to glyphosate resistance in Italian ryegrass populations from Brazil.
Keywords: EPSPs; Gene copy number; Italian ryegrass; Over-expression; Resistance.
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