Degradation and metabolism of fenoxaprop-P-ethyl in sensitive and resistant populations of Alopecurus myosuroides

Blackgrass (Alopecurus myosuroides) is one of the most economically important weeds in Europe. Because of the development and distribution of herbicide resistant populations the control of this weed has become a serious challenge in agriculture. In recent years a reduced efficacy of fenoxaprop-P-ethyl towards A. myosuroides has been observed. To investigate the degradation of the active substance fenoxaprop-P-ethyl in A. myosuroides, four populations were grown in the greenhouse: One herbicide sensitive population, two populations with a non-target-site resistance (NTSR) and one population with a target-site resistance (TSR). For dose response studies the plants were treated with different dosages of fenoxaprop-P-ethyl and dry weight was determined after three weeks. For the NTSR populations resistance factors of 76 and 2 could be calculated based on ED50 values. The development of the TSR plants was not restricted by the herbicide treatment, not even with the highest dosage. For the degradation and metabolism studies plants were treated with fenoxaprop-P-ethyl and harvested for laboratory analysis 2, 8, 24, 48 and 96 hours after treatment. The active substance degraded within 96 hours without any significant differences between the populations. Two hours after herbicide treatment a metabolite could be identified and quantified in all populations. The mean contents at eight and 24 hours after treatment differed significantly between the populations. Results have shown that the metabolism of fenoxaprop-P-ethyl to fenoxaprop-P is very similar in the tested populations although they have different resistance mechanisms. Further studies are intended to show if the populations differ in the formation of other unknown metabolites.