Chlorsulfuron resistant transgenic tobacco as a tool for broomrape control

Broomrape (Orobanche ramosa L.) is the most important parasitic plant that infests tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). Chemical treatment of the soil is not effective and crop rotation is not acceptable to solve this problem because of the long viability period of Orobanche seeds in the soil. Application of systemic herbicides in the field with herbicide resistant tobacco could be a successful tool for broomrape control. Several tobacco cultivars were transformed with a mutant ahas3R gene for resistance to the herbicide chlorsulfuron (Glean, DuPont). Transformed plants were selfed and the segregation of resistance was followed in the next generation. The efficiency of the herbicide was demonstrated in greenhouse and field trials. An Orobanche/tobacco growth system was used in order to prove the lethal effect of the herbicide to the attached broomrape plants.