Herbicide resistant transgenic flax field test: Agronomic performance in normal and sulfonylurea-containing soils

Summary

Two linseed flax (Linum usitatissimum) lines transformed with a mutant Arabidopsis ALS gene conferring resistance to sulfonylurea herbicides were tested in a replicated, randomized field test against its nontransformed commercial cultivar parent (cv. NorLin) in normal soil and in soil containing the commonly used sulfonylurea herbicides chlorsulfuron (Glean^®) or metsulfuron methyl (Ally^®). There were no significant differences between the transgenic lines and the parent for any agronomic trait measured in untreated soil, indicating that there is no detrimental effect of T-DNA or foreign gene expression. Similarly, there were no significant differences for performance of the transgenic lines between the untreated and the herbicide treated soils, indicating that the transferred gene does confer a field level of tolerance to the flax. The control NorLin was devastated by the presence of the herbicides in the soil.