Bastard Cabbage (Rapistrum rugosum L.) resistance to tribenuron-methyl and iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium in Spain and alternative herbicides for its control

Abstract

Complaints about the lack of control of Rapistrum rugosum with tribenuron-methyl and iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium in winter cereals in Northeastern Spain motivated this study. During 2015–2018, greenhouse trials were conducted to test the responses of two possibly resistant (R1 and R2) and two susceptible populations to both active ingredients to determine the response of these populations to alternative herbicides. In the first trial that was repeated twice, populations were treated with both active ingredients (three rates, six replicates), and the lack of control confirmed resistance both times. The second trial was conducted on the self-pollinated progeny of the initial populations (13 rates, 6 replicates) to confirm the heritable character of resistance and to determine the resistance factors related to survival and biomass. Resistance factors based on biomass were 188 and 253 for tribenuron-methyl and 42 and 26 for iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium for R1 and R2, respectively, confirming the strong resistance of the progeny. In the third trial, nine active ingredients (a.i.) registered for broadleaved weed control in winter cereals were tested on the four populations (two rates, four replicates). All the alternative herbicides, except florasulam, results in important phytotoxicity to all tested populations, with 100% efficacy for several a.i. This work is the first report of R. rugosum that is resistant to iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium and the first report in Europe of R. rugosum that is resistant to tribenuron-methyl.