The continuous use of herbicides for controlling weeds has led to the evolution of resistance to all major herbicidal modes of action globally. Every year, new cases of herbicide resistance are reported. Resistance is still in progress in many species, which must be stopped before it becomes a worldwide concern. Several herbicides are known to cause stressful conditions that resemble plant abiotic stresses. Variation in intracellular calcium (Ca2+) concentration is a primary event in a wide range of biological processes in plants, including adaptation to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Ca2+ acts as a secondary messenger, connecting various environmental stimuli to different biological processes, especially during stress rejoindering in plants. Even though many studies involving Ca2+ signalling in plants have been published, there have been no studies on the roles of Ca2+ signalling in herbicide stress response. Hence, this mini-review will highlight the possible sensing and molecular communication via Ca2+ signals in weeds under herbicide stress. It will also discuss some critical points regarding integrating the sensing mechanisms of multiple stress conditions and subsequent molecular communication. These signalling responses must be addressed in the future, enabling researchers to discover new herbicidal targets.

• Klíčová slova
• abiotic stress, calcium signalling, food security, herbicide resistance, weeds,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Although herbicides have been successfully used for controlling weeds, their continuous use has developed in the evolution of resistance to all major herbicide modes of action worldwide. Reports suggest that the members of Poaceae family are more prone to developing herbicide resistance than other families. In plants, epigenetic mechanisms play critical roles by increasing their stress-adaptive potential in a rapidly changing environment. Epigenetic mechanisms involve alteration of the expression of genetic elements, but without any changes in the DNA sequence. Although the possible roles of epigenetic mechanisms in contributing to survival and fitness under various stresses are well documented in model plants and crops, their contribution to herbicide resistance in weeds is still in its infancy. A few studies with herbicides have shown differential expression of DNA methyltransferases, histone methyltransferases and DNA demethylases in response to the herbicides; however, no further studies were conducted. In the case of herbicide stress, exploring how these epigenetic processes affect the gene expression pattern in individual plants subjected to recurrent selection would be exciting. Hence, our mini-review will focus on the potential contributions of epigenetic mechanisms to the adaptive responses of grass-weedy species to herbicide stress. A better understanding of these epigenetic changes will add novel perceptions to our knowledge of herbicide resistance evolution in weeds enabling the development of herbicides with novel targets.

• Klíčová slova
• DNA methylation, abiotic stresses, epigenetic regulations, herbicide resistance, histone modification, phenotypic plasticity,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH