In 2010, a novel herbicide-resistance mechanism (gene amplification) was reported to confer glyphosate resistance in the weed Palmer amaranth. Subsequently, this same mechanism was found to confer glyphosate resistance in other weeds as well. Scientists speculated that this novel mechanism might be very rare and, therefore, found only for herbicides for which resistance is uncommon. A ground-breaking paper by Laforest et al. reports finding this same mechanism for a group of herbicides for which other resistance mechanisms commonly occur. Consequently, what was thought to be a rare herbicide-resistance mechanism may not be so rare after all.

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Read the ground-breaking paper in Pest Management Science here.

Read the accompanying commentary in Pest Management Science here.