Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

I am having a lot of trouble understanding a press release from the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. It trumpets “a way to control superweed”. And it helpfully explains what superweeds are. In essence, they are weeds that are resistant to a parcel of weedkillers. The release quoted an article in The New York Times that “noted that there were 10 resistant species in at least 22 states infesting millions of acres of farmland”.

The solution, says the press release, was to put a new kind of weedkiller resistance into crop plants, so that farmers can use a different weedkiller on their superweed-infested fields and thus eradicate the superweeds.

Using a massive genetic database and a bioinformatic approach, Dow AgroSciences researchers identified two bacterial enzymes that, when transformed into plants, conferred resistance to an herbicide called “2,4-D,” commonly used in controlling dandelions. The enzymes were successfully put into corn and soybean plants, and those new plants showed excellent resistance to 2,4-D, including no negative effects on yield or other agronomic traits. Other advantages of 2,4-D include low cost, short environmental persistence, and low toxicity to humans and wildlife.

Stay with me here.

I wonder what the odds are that among the populations of 10 resistant species that infest millions of acres of farmland across 22 states, there might be some harbouring a bit of tolerance to 2,4-D.

Nah. Couldn’t happen. Not in wild carrots. Nor in wild mustard. Superduperweeds? Couldn’t happen.