Herbicide resistance in plants arises mostly through mutation or pre-existence of genes that confer resistance to the population. When using herbicides inhibitors of the acetolactate synthase (ALS), resistance has occurred in weeds as well as in crops. This literature review was conducted to discuss biochemical, genetic, and molecular aspects of plant resistance to ALS inhibitors, its effects on weed ecophysiology and mutations which confer resistance to weeds, as well as the possibilities to develop resistant crops to ALS inhibitors. In weeds, resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides results from one or more mutations in the gene that codifies the ALS, which possesses dominant or semi-dominant characteristics when resistance is codified by one gene. Substitutions on a single nucleotide sequence cause alterations in the ALS, conferring resistance to herbicides inhibitors of this enzyme. Although the resistant biotype presents genetic and enzymatic alteration, when compared to the susceptible biotype, the ecophysiological behaviour of resistant and susceptible biotypes is similar. Resistant cultivars have already been developed in various crops, including rice and corn, which vary in their level of resistance to different chemical groups of ALS-inhibiting herbicides.
weeds; crops; mutations; resistance inheritance; ecological fitness