Identification of acetolactate synthase resistant Amaranthus retroflexus in Ukraine
Authors: Mykhalska L. M. , Schwartau V. V. 
Published: December 2022

The problem of weed resistance to herbicides has become very important in the last decade and threatens to dramatically reduce the productivity and profitability of modern crop production. Herbicides – ALS inhibitors dominate among current herbicides and are used annually on large areas of sunflower, wheat, corn, soybean, and rapeseed. Also, in recent years, Clearfield seeds of sunflower, corn, canola, soybean and wheat have been sown in large areas. In recent years, there has been a sharp decrease in Amaranthus retroflexus L. control levels by imidazolinone class herbicides. Thus, the effects of herbicides with different modes of action on the development of A. retroflexus on sunflower after imidazolinone application were investigated in field research. In the conditions of the Cherkasy region of Ukraine, the biotype A. retroflexus was identified, which is resistant to the post-emergence application of herbicides - acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors of the imidazolinone class – imazapyr and imazamox. Weed plants treated with imidazolinone derivatives in the maximum doses registered in Ukraine did not differ from untreated control plants. Also, in the conditions of field experiments, cross resistance of the weed biotype to herbicides – ALS inhibitors of the sulfonylurea class – foramsulfuron and iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium, thifensulfuron-methyl, tribenuron-methyl, nicosulfuron was established; and also, to the triazolinone derivative – thiencarbazone-methyl; to triazolpyrimidine derivatives – florasulam and flumetsulam. Multiple resistance of the A. retroflexus biotype to herbicides of the classes of glycine derivatives – glyphosate, phenoxycarboxylates – 2,4-D, benzoic acid – dicamba has not been established; compositions of dicamba with triketone – topramesone; diphenyl ethers – aclonifen; pyridine carboxylates – clopyralid, picloram and aminopyralid. It was shown for the first time that herbicide compositions with selected nutrients (ammonium pool) can increase the level of effectiveness of controlling resistant weed biotypes. Thus, the addition of ammonium sulfate increases the effectiveness of controlling ALS-resistant A. retroflexus with herbicides – a derivative of benzoic acid (dianate) and a derivative of benzoic acid with a 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) inhibitor (stellar – dicamba + topramesone). Thus, the A. retroflexus biotype resistant to ALS-herbicides of the imidazolinone class was identified for the first time in Ukraine, which is cross-resistant to other ALS-inhibitors of the sulfonylureas, triazolinones, and triazolpyrimidine classes. Multiple resistance of A. retroflexus to herbicides of the classes of glycine derivatives – glyphosate; phenoxycarboxylates – 2,4-D; benzoic acid – dicamba, triketones – topramesone; diphenyl ethers – aclonifen; pyridine carboxylates – clopyralid, picloram and aminopyralid has not been established. The identification of a highly harmful weed species resistant to widely used herbicides – ALS inhibitors in the central part of the "grain belt" of Ukraine requires a significant revision of the principles of crop rotation formation and ways of controlling weeds in the country in order to maintain high levels of profitability and productivity of agrophytocenoses.