Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Shaw, David R.

Committee Member

Bryson, Charles T.

Committee Member

Koger, Clifford H.

Committee Member

Reynolds, Daniel B.

Date of Degree

5-3-2019

Original embargo terms

Worldwide

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Plant and Soil Sciences (Weed Science)

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Plant and Soil Sciences

Abstract

Glyphosate-resistant (GR) giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida L.) has been confirmed in several states across the mid-western and mid-southern U.S. Greenhouse and lab studies were conducted to investigate possible mechanism of glyphosate resistance in a suspect population from Monroe County, Mississippi. Translocation of 14C-glyphosate in the susceptible biotype was 77%, compared to 12% in the resistant biotype at 120 hours after treatment, suggesting that the glyphosate resistance mechanism for this giant ragweed biotype is reduced translocation. Dose response studies were conducted to confirm and characterize glyphosate resistance in suspect biotypes from Mississippi (MS-R) and Tennessee (TN-R). The ED50 for MS-R and TN-R were 3.9- and 6.3-fold higher than a susceptible biotype. Results from a fallow field study conducted in 2016 in Monroe County revealed PRE and POST treatments containing dicamba and mesotrione alone and in various combinations provided effective control of GR giant ragweed. Studies were conducted to measure fitness, phenotypic, and genetic variation among GR biotypes from MS-R, TN-R, and Ohio (OH-R). Non-destructive measurements of plants over an eight-week period revealed rapid early growth of two GR accessions from MS in the absence of glyphosate. However, no differences in vegetative biomass were recorded after eight weeks with the exception of OH-R biotype which exhibited lower biomass due to photoperiod sensitivity. Vegetative biomass and fecundity were similar. Multivariate and PCA analysis of traits grouped biotypes based on state of origin. Groupings by state of origin can be significant as managers could design similar methods of control to address giant ragweed in these areas. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to record genetic diversity among and within biotypes. Genetic diversity values were high at 0.514, 0.502, and 0.525 within biotypes from MS, TN, and OH, respectively. However, genetic diversity did not differ due to glyphosate response or level of glyphosate resistance. High levels of genetic variation can be an indicator of the ability of giant ragweed biotypes to adapt to changing environments and conditions.

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