A molecular assay for the proactive detection of target site‐based resistance to herbicides inhibiting acetolactate synthase in Alopecurus myosuroides

Summary Acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors are the most resistance‐prone herbicide group. Rapid resistance diagnosis is thus of importance for their optimal use. We formulate rules to use the derived cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence method to develop molecular tools detecting a change at a given codon, the nature of which is unknown. We applied them to Alopecurus myosuroides (black grass) to develop assays targeting ALS codons A122, P197, A205, W574 and S653 that are crucial for herbicide sensitivity. These assays detected W574L or P197T, or both substitutions, in most plants analysed from a field where ALS inhibitors failed after 3 years of use. Similar assays can easily be set up for any species. Given the rapidity of selection for resistance to ALS inhibitors, these assays should be very useful in proactive herbicide resistance diagnosis.