Confirmation and Resistance Mechanisms in Glyphosate-Resistant Common Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) in Arkansas

Greenhouse Studies were established in Fayetteville, AR, to investigate glyphosate resistance in Arkansas common ragweed populations. Common ragweed seed were collected front plants in Pope and Jackson Counties in Arkansas. Plants grown from seed were sprayed with one of seven glyphosate rates. Populations in Pope and Jackson counties were 21-fold and 10-fold more tolerant to glyphosate, respectively, than a known susceptible population. Based on C-14-glyphosate absorption and translocation studies, reduced glyphosate absorption or translocation was not the resistance mechanism in Arkansas glyphosate-resistant common ragweed. Shikimate accumulation did not differ among the known susceptible and the two resistant populations at 3 d after treatment (DAT). However, by 5 DAT, shikimate accumulation in the two resistant populations was lower than the known susceptible population. Data indicate that glyphosate-resistant common ragweed is present in at least two locations in Arkansas, and the resistance mechanism is not an insensitive target site or reduced glyphosate absorption or translocation.