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Genetic characterization of the acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) gene responsible for resistance to imidazolinone in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

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A point mutation in the AHAS1 gene leading to resistance to imidazolinone in chickpea was identified. The resistance is inherited as a single gene. A KASP marker targeting the mutation was developed.

Abstract

Weed control in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is challenging due to poor crop competition ability and limited herbicide options. A chickpea genotype with resistance to imidazolinone (IMI) herbicides has been identified, but the genetic inheritance and the mechanism were unknown. In many plant species, resistance to IMI is caused by point mutation(s) in the acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) gene resulting in an amino acid substitution preventing herbicide attachment to the molecule. The main objective of this research was to characterize the resistance to IMI herbicides in chickpea. Two homologous AHAS genes namely AHAS1 and AHAS2 sharing 80 % amino acid sequence similarity were identified in the chickpea genome. Cluster analysis indicated independent grouping of AHAS1 and AHAS2 across legume species. A point mutation in the AHAS1 gene at C675 to T675 resulting in an amino acid substitution from Ala205 to Val205 confers the resistance to IMI in chickpea. A KASP marker targeting the point mutation was developed and effectively predicted the response to IMI herbicides in a recombinant inbred (RI) population of chickpea. The RI population was used in molecular mapping where the major locus for the reaction to IMI herbicide was mapped to chromosome 5. Segregation analysis across an F2 population and RI population demonstrated that the resistance is inherited as a single gene in a semi-dominant fashion. The simple genetic inheritance and the availability of KASP marker generated in this study would speed up development of chickpea varieties with resistance to IMI herbicides.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Parvaneh Hashemi, Carmen Breitkreutz, Robert Stonehouse, Mauricio Parada, Ambuj Jha and Amit Deokar for their technical support. Funding for this research was provided by the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (BRE#0906 and BRE#1010).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

The experiments conducted in this research comply with the current laws of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Sciences, Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A8, Canada

    Courtney Thompson & Bunyamin Tar’an

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  1. Courtney Thompson
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  2. Bunyamin Tar’an
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Correspondence to Bunyamin Tar’an.

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Communicated by B. Diers.

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Thompson, C., Tar’an, B. Genetic characterization of the acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) gene responsible for resistance to imidazolinone in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Theor Appl Genet 127, 1583–1591 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-014-2320-0

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