DNA-SEQUENCE VARIATION IN DOMAIN A OF THE ACETOLACTATE SYNTHASE GENES OF HERBICIDE-RESISTANT AND HERBICIDE-SUSCEPTIBLE WEED BIOTYPES

The DNA sequence of a 196 base pair (bp) region of the acetolactate synthase (ALS) genes of three weed species, kochia, prickly lettuce, and Russian thistle, was determined. This region encompasses the coding sequence for Domain A, a region of the amino acid sequence previously demonstrated to play a pivotal role in conferring resistance to herbicides that inhibit ALS. The Domain A DNA sequence from a chlorsulfuron-resistant (R) prickly lettuce biotype from Idaho differed from that of a chlorsulfuron-susceptible (S) biotype by a single point mutation, which substituted a histidine for a proline. The Domain A DNA sequence from an R kochia biotype from Kansas also differed from that of an S biotype by a single point mutation in the same proline codon. This point mutation, however, conferred substitution of threonine for proline. Two different ALS-homologous sequences were isolated from an R biotype of Russian thistle. Neither sequence encoded amino acid substitutions in Domain A that differed from the consensus S sequence. The DNA sequence variation among the R and S kochia biotypes was used to characterize six Ada County, Idaho, kochia collections for correlation between phenotypic chlorsulfuron susceptibility and restriction digest patterns (RFLPs) of polymerase chain reaction amplification products. Most collections showed excellent correspondence between the RFLP patterns and the phenotypic response to chlorsulfuron application. However, one entirely R collection had the RFLP pattern of the S biotype, suggesting that resistance was not due to mutation in the proline codon.