Abstract
Ploidy level is important in biodiversity studies and in developing strategies for isolating important plant genes. Many herbicide-resistant weed species are polyploids, but our understanding of these polyploid weeds is limited. Japanese foxtail, a noxious agricultural grass weed, has evolved herbicide resistance. However, most studies on this weed have ignored the fact that there are multiple copies of target genes. This may complicate the study of resistance mechanisms. Japanese foxtail was found to be a tetraploid by flow cytometer and chromosome counting, two commonly used methods in the determination of ploidy levels. We found that there are two copies of the gene encoding plastidic acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) in Japanese foxtail and all the homologous genes are expressed. Additionally, no difference in ploidy levels or ACCase gene copy numbers was observed between an ACCase-inhibiting herbicide-resistant and a herbicide-sensitive population in this study.
Highlights
Ploidy level, defined as the number of sets of chromosomes in the nucleus, is an important genomic characteristics in biodiversity studies and developing strategies for isolating important plant genes [1, 2, 3]
The intensive and global use of herbicides to control agricultural weeds has resulted in the evolution of resistance, and herbicide-resistant weeds pose a great threat to global agriculture
The flow cytometry results revealed that all these samples were tetraploid
Summary
Ploidy level, defined as the number of sets of chromosomes in the nucleus, is an important genomic characteristics in biodiversity studies and developing strategies for isolating important plant genes [1, 2, 3]. Knowledge on ploidy levels continues to improve in angiosperms, little is known regarding those. Determine Ploidy Level and Isolate ACCase Genes in Japanese Foxtail of weeds. It has been shown that polyploidy is more frequent in weeds than in other species, especially in natural area invaders and agricultural weeds [4, 5]. The advantages of being polyploidy may predispose such weeds to be biologically invasive species [5, 6]. Compared with the knowledge of diploid weeds, our understanding of the evolution of herbicide resistance in polyploid weeds is limited [8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
