Low-temperature-induced singlet oxygen adaptation decreases susceptibility to the mycotoxin TeA in invasive plant Ageratina adenophora.

The mycotoxin tenuazonic acid (TeA) inhibits photosynthesis and is expected to be developed as a bioherbicide to control Ageratina adenophora that is one of the most serious invasive alien plants in China. New leaves sprouting from A. adenophora at low temperatures (LT) in early spring are less sensitive to TeA compared to those growing in summer.

Action of the fungal compound citrinin, a bioherbicide candidate, on photosystem II.

Background: Bioherbicides are becoming more attractive as safe weed control tools towards sustainable agriculture. Natural products constitute an important source chemicals and chemical leads for discovery and development of novel pesticide target sites. Citrinin is a bioactive compound produced by fungi of the genera Penicillium and Aspergillus.

Structure-based ligand design and discovery of novel tenuazonic acid derivatives with high herbicidal activity.

Introduction: Computer-aided design has become an important tool to develop novel pesticides based on natural lead compounds. Tenuazonic acid (TeA), a typical representative of the natural tetramic acid family, was patented as a potential bioherbicide. However, its herbicidal efficacy is still not up to the ideal standard of commercial products.

A fungal Bipolaris bicolor strain as a potential bioherbicide for goosegrass (Eleusine indica) control.

Background: Tea, one of the most important commercial crops on earth, is strongly affected by weeds on productivity and quality. Bioherbicides are shedding new light on weed control in tea gardens in an economical and safe manner.

Results: A pathogenic strain SYNJC-2-2 was isolated from diseased leaves of a noxious weed, goosegrass (Eleusine indica), from a tea garden in Zhejiang Province, China.

Feral rice from introgression of weedy rice genes into transgenic herbicide-resistant hybrid-rice progeny.

Pollen-mediated transgenic flow of herbicide resistance occurs bidirectionally between transgenic cultivated rice and weedy rice. The potential risk of weedy traits introgressing into hybrid rice has been underestimated and is poorly understood. In this study, two glufosinate-resistant transgenic rice varieties, hybrid rice (F1), and their succeeding generations (F2-F4) were planted for 3 years in field plots free of weedy rice adjacent to experimental weedy-rice fields.

Comparative phytotoxicity of usnic acid, salicylic acid, cinnamic acid and benzoic acid on photosynthetic apparatus of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

The effects of four phytotoxins usnic acid (UA), salicylic acid (SA), cinnamic acid (CA) and benzoic acid (BA) on photosynthesis of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were studied in vivo to identify and localise their initial action sites on two photosystems. Our experimental evidence shows that the four phytotoxins have multiple targets in chloroplasts, which mainly lie in photosystem II (PSII), not photosystem I (PSI). They share an original action site by blocking electron transport beyond Q (primary plastoquinone acceptor) at PSII acceptor side since a fast increase of the J-step level is the greatest change in chlorophyll a fluorescence induction kinetics OJIP in C.

Error-prone PCR mutation of Ls-EPSPS gene from Liriope spicata conferring to its enhanced glyphosate-resistance.

Liriope spicata (Thunb.) Lour has a unique LsEPSPS structure contributing to the highest-ever-recognized natural glyphosate tolerance. The transformed LsEPSPS confers increased glyphosate resistance to E.

TeA is a key virulence factor for Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler infection of its host.

A toxin-deficient mutant strain, HP001 mutant of Alternaria alternata, whose mycelium is unable to infect its host, produces little tenuazonic acid (TeA) toxin. How TeA plays a role in initiating host infection by A. alternata remains unclear.

Enhanced photosynthesis endows seedling growth vigour contributing to the competitive dominance of weedy rice over cultivated rice.

Background: Weedy rice, as one of the worst paddy field weeds worldwide, bears vigorous seedlings and dominantly competes with cultivated rice causing serious crop yield losses. To elucidate the causes of its stronger seedling vigour endowing its dominant competition with cultivated rice, comparative studies on seedling growth characteristics were conducted among six weedy rice biotypes and the two indica and japonica cultivars Shanyou-63 (SY-63) and Zhendao-8 (ZD-8), respectively, in the greenhouse.

Results: Weedy rice emerged 2 to 3 days earlier, rapidly grew 1.

Analysis of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in leaves from Coffea arabica using high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole mass spectrometry detection.

Glyphosate is a commonly applied herbicide in coffee plantations. Because of its non-selective mode of action it can damage the crop exposed through spray drift. Therefore, it is of interest to study glyphosate fate in coffee plants.

Multiple mechanism confers natural tolerance of three lilyturf species to glyphosate.

A combination of unique EPSPS structure and increased gene copy number and expression contribute to natural glyphosate tolerance in three lilyturf species. A few plants are naturally tolerant to glyphosate, the most widely used non-selective herbicide worldwide. Here, the basis for natural tolerance to glyphosate in three lilyturf species, Ophiopogon japonicus (OJ), Liriope spicata (LS), and Liriope platyphylla (LP), is characterized.

Cytoplasmic-genetic male sterility gene provides direct evidence for some hybrid rice recently evolving into weedy rice.

Weedy rice infests paddy fields worldwide at an alarmingly increasing rate. There is substantial evidence indicating that many weedy rice forms originated from or are closely related to cultivated rice. There is suspicion that the outbreak of weedy rice in China may be related to widely grown hybrid rice due to its heterosis and the diversity of its progeny, but this notion remains unsupported by direct evidence.

Glyphosate spray drift in Coffea arabica - sensitivity of coffee plants and possible use of shikimic acid as a biomarker for glyphosate exposure.

Glyphosate is widely used in coffee plantations to control weeds. Lacking selectivity, glyphosate spray drift is suspected to cause adverse effects in coffee plants. Symptoms caused by glyphosate can be similar to those produced by other stress factors.

A strategy to provide long-term control of weedy rice while mitigating herbicide resistance transgene flow, and its potential use for other crops with related weeds.

Transgenic herbicide-resistant rice is needed to control weeds that have evolved herbicide resistance, as well as for the weedy (feral, red) rice problem, which has been exacerbated by shifting to direct seeding throughout the world-firstly in Europe and the Americas, and now in Asia, as well as in parts of Africa. Transplanting had been the major method of weedy rice control. Experience with imidazolinone-resistant rice shows that gene flow to weedy rice is rapid, negating the utility of the technology.