Does HERBICIDE RESISTANCE Have a Cost in Brassica rapa.

BIOLOGY experiments; EXPERIMENTAL biology; HERBICIDE resistance; ATRAZINE; BRASSICA; PHOTOSYNTHESIS

The article focuses on an experiment conducted in a college-level biology class to examine the resistance of genetic strains of rapid-cycling Brassica rapa to the herbicide atrazine. Herbicide resistance may come with a cost to the organism. Resistance to triazine herbicides is often dependent on a mutation that also inhibits photosynthesis. The mutation that confers resistance also inhibits electron transfer in Photosystem II and under certain environmental conditions will inhibit the rate of photosynthesis. In the presence of the herbicide, individuals of the resistant strain survive whereas individuals of the susceptible strain die. In the experiment, students also gained experience in hypothesis formation and testing, experimental design, and statistical analysis.