Characterization of transgenic sulfonylurea-resistant flax (Linum usitatissimum)

Fourteen transgenic flax (Linum usitatissimum) lines, carrying a mutant Arabidopsis acetolactate synthase (ALS) gene selected for resistance to chlorsulfuron, were characterized for resistance to two sulfonylurea herbicides. Progeny of 10 of the 14 lines segregated in a ratio of 3 resistant to 1 susceptible, indicating a single insertion. Progeny of 1 line segregated in a 15∶1 ratio, indicating two insertions of the ALS gene at independent loci. Progeny from 3 lines did not segregate in a Mendelian fashion and were likely the products of chimeric shoots. Resistance to chlorsulfuron was stably inherited in all lines. At the enzyme level, the transgenic lines were 2.5 to more than 60 times more resistant to chlorsulfuron than the parental lines. The transgenic lines were 25-260 times more resistant to chlorsulfuron than the parental lines in root growth experiments and demonstrated resistance when grown in soil treated with 20 g ha(-1) chlorsulfuron. The lines demonstrated less resistance to metsulfuron methyl; in root growth experiments, the transgenic lines were only 1.6-4.8 times more resistant to metsulfuron methyl than the parental lines. Resistance was demonstrated in the field at half (2.25 g ha(-1)) and full (4.5 g ha(-1)) rates of metsulfuron methyl.