Overexpression of a Glycosyltransferase Gene from a Metabolically Poly-Resistant Beckmannia syzigachne Population Alters Growth and Confers Herbicide Resistance to Brachypodium distachyon

Abstract

Beckmannia syzigachne is a noxious weed for rice-wheat rotations in China. The B. syzigachne (AH-02) population evolved metabolic resistance to fenoxaprop-P-ethyl and mesosulfuron-methyl. To investigate the function of GT73C1 in this population, the GT73C1 gene was amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and the sequence was 100% consistent with the transcriptome data. Its phylogenetic tree was displayed and annotated using FigTree v1.4.4. The plant overexpression vector of GT73C1 gene was constructed and used to transform Brachypodium distachyon plants. Furthermore, the expression of GT73C1 was significantly induced by fenoxaprop-P-ethyl and mesosulfuron-methyl, which was consistent with the findings from the whole plant bioassay. These results indicate that GT73C1 is closely related to the metabolic resistance of B. distachyon.