Bidens pilosa and B idens subalternans populations resistant to ALS-inhibiting herbicides have been reported in different soybean areas of Brazil. This research aimed to develop a methodology to identify Bidens spp. biotypes resistant to ALS-inhibiting herbicides through germinative tests in herbicide solutions. The work was divided into three phases consisting of independent experiments. The first phase consisted of dose-response curves prepared for a susceptible biotype of Bidens spp., germinated in solutions of four pre-emergence herbicides (flumetsulan, diclosulan, imazaquin and metribuzin). The objective of this phase was to select the herbicides best adapted to the methodology, by using the following rates: 2C, 1C, 1/2C, 1/4C, 1/8C, 1/16C, 1/32C, 1/64C and water (where C = recommended rate). The second phase consisted of dose-response curves prepared for the herbicides selected in the first phase (imazaquin and metribuzin) using a resistant biotype, to identify the dose providing the largest response range between the biotypes. The third phase consisted of a comparative test between three resistant and one susceptible biotypes, exposed to germination in the solutions of the herbicides chosen in the first phase, applying the doses chosen in the second phase. The resistant Bidens spp. biotypes demonstrated a better capacity to develop roots in imazaquin herbicide solution (87 mg L-1),than the susceptible biotype, a fact that proves the method's applicability. The methodology applied to identify Bidens spp. resistant biotypes through germinative tests in herbicide solution is a fast and efficient alternative for biotype identification.
Bidens; germination; resistance; detection
