RECOMBINANT OR MUTANT POLYNUCLEOTIDE FOR PROVIDING PLANTS TOLERANCE TO HERBICIDES, INHIBITING ACETOHYDROXYACID SYNTHASE (AHAS) (EMBODIMENTS), A PLANT NOT MET IN THE NATURE AND SEEDS THEREOF, A METHOD OF CONTROLLING WEEDS, A METHOD OF PRODUCING A TRANSGENIC PLANT TOLERANT TO COMPOUNDS INHIBITING AHAS, A METHOD OF IDENTIFYING OR SELECTING A PLANT CELL, A PLANT TISSUE OR A PLANT OR A PART THEREOF, A METHOD FOR COMBATING UNDESIRED VEGETATION GROWTH AND A METHOD OF IDENTIFYING A PLANT
The invention provides nucleic acids encoding mutants of the acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) large subunit comprising at least two mutations, for example double and triple mutants, which are useful for producing transgenic or non-transgenic plants with improved levels of tolerance to AHAS-inhibiting herbicides. The invention also provides expression vectors, cells, plants comprising the polynucleotides encoding the AHAS large subunit double and triple mutants, plants comprising two or more AHAS large subunit single mutant polypeptides, and methods for making and using the same.
