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Herbicide-tolerant grapes developed
Posted: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 2:31 pm
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Herbicide-tolerant cotton, maize and soy were developed to improve weed control, but grapes have different needs. The slightest whiff of a popular broadleaf herbicide kills them dead. The answer? Make the grapes herbicide-tolerant, so they can coexist.

"In 1946, 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic or 2, 4-D was introduced. It was a wonder herbicide," said Robert Skirvin, plant biologist in the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. "It works really well in corn and wheat and grass crops because it kills the broadleaves, so the grasses are resistant to it, but grapes are incredibly sensitive to it."

Skirvin said that 1/100th of the amount of 2, 4-D commonly used on maize to kill broadleaves, will kill grapes. Today, more than 50 years after it was introduced, it's still the third most widely used herbicide in the US -- but it has annihilated most of the grapes in Illinois and other Midwestern states.

The new grape, called Improved Chancellor, is resistant to 2, 4-D, and its development is based on an accidental discovery.

"The USDA found a soil bacterium that had a gene that breaks down 2, 4-D. Someone noticed that after spilling 2, 4-D on the ground, something in the soil broke it up - metabolized it. They were looking for something to control pollution and discovered this soil bacterium instead," said Skirvin.

He received permission to use the bacterial gene and began in 2002 to transfer it to a grape that would ultimately be resistant to 2, 4-D.

"It was quite an accomplishment to get the gene into the plant," said Skirvin. "This grape could help salvage the wine and grape industry in the Midwest." If all goes well, Skirvin hopes to get permission to grow them in an isolation plot outdoors by spring 2009, and that in about five years grape growers will produce wine with them.

"A grape resistant to 2, 4-D would be a huge plus to our industry," said Kansas grower Rebecca Storey. "As a vineyard and winery owner we have suffered losses from this chemical that runs in the tens of thousands of dollars -- not to mention the time and effort to identify the sprayer and prove the damage in a court of law. This grape would be a gift to our industry."

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