Morning Glory Plants: The Unexpected Dual Resistance to Glyphosate and Insects

**Morning glory plants** that resist glyphosate also fend off herbivorous insects, according to a study from the University of Michigan, published in *New Phytologist*. Researchers Grace Zhang and Regina Baucom observed that while plants treated with glyphosate sustained more insect damage, plants resistant to glyphosate showed less damage. This finding suggests a connection between **glyphosate resistance** and **herbivory resistance**. Their study examined 1600 morning glories in the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, noting damage patterns and plant fitness. **Glyphosate disrupts the shikimate pathway**, a key metabolic process for producing compounds essential for plant defense, raising questions about the indirect effects of herbicides on plant evolution and interactions in its environment. Resistant plants may develop detoxification pathways to better shunt glyphosate, maintaining their defenses. The study aims to further explore how human-made herbicides disturb natural plant-insect relationships.