For decades, herbicide safeners have been used as a defense mechanism against stress caused by herbicides in cereal crops such as maize, rice, grain sorghum, and wheat. Developing these chemical compounds (safeners) that work with new herbicides has largely been done through trial and error because of limited knowledge of what happens in the plant when safeners have been applied, either directly as a seed treatment or broadcast with the herbicide. Researchers at the University of Illinois have gained new insight into the mechanisms of how safeners turn on a defense “switch” in the plant to protect crops from herbicide injury by studying different lines of grain sorghum. This new understanding could help producers in broadening weed control options. Read more on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign website.