Characterization of Non-Target-Site Mechanisms in Imidazolinone-Resistant Sunflower by RNA-seq

Abstract Imisun sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.) are imidazolinone-resistant cultivars in which the two mechanisms of herbicide resistance coexist: (i) mutation in herbicide target-site (target-site resistance) and (ii) non-target-site resistance (NTSR). In Imisun technology, NTSR could be related to herbicide metabolism and might occur as a result of a constitutive up-regulation of resistance genes, or it can appear only after herbicide treatment. The objective of this study was to characterize NTSR in Imisun sunflower in response to imazethapyr using RNA-Seq and to determine whether these mechanisms are constitutive or herbicide-induced. Cypsels were germinated in plastic pots, watered by capillarity and growth in chamber under controlled conditions. Seven-day-old plants were treated with 0 (control) and 1 μM imazethapyr for 12 h. After leaf RNA purification, stranded, paired-end cDNA libraries were constructed. Sequencing was performed with Illumina HiSeq2000. Local mapping, with and without multihits, was carried out over the reference transcriptome HaT13l and differential expression was analysed. Sixty one and 47 contigs (according to mapping strategy) related to xenobiotic metabolism were found: cytochromes P450s, ABC transporters, glycosyltransferases, UDPglucuronosyl/glucosyltransferases and glutathione S-transferases. None of these contigs showed differential expression between control and imazethapyr-treated plants. Seventeen interesting contigs were verified by qRT-PCR. These results suggest that constitutive NTSR mechanisms may account for imidazolinone resistance in Imisun sunflower.