Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Strigolactone analogues induce suicidal seed germination of Striga spp. in soil
Weed Research, Volume 52, No. 3, Year 2012
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Striga hermonthica and Striga asiatica are obligate root parasites that cause serious problems in the production of staple cereal crops in Africa. Because of the high levels of infestation, there is an urgent need to control these weeds. A potentially useful control option is depletion of the soil seed bank by suicidal germination, which involves germination of the seeds in the absence of host plants. Suicidal germination is often mentioned in the literature, but not considered realistic, because of the alleged untimely decomposition of the stimulants in the soil, despite the fact that some encouraging results were reported around 1980. The alleged instability has prevented active research in this direction for the past 20-25years. Five newly designed synthetic germination stimulants were investigated as candidates for suicidal germination. An important issue is the persistence of these stimulants in soil. Packets with Striga spp. seeds were put in pots with soil and then treated with aqueous solutions of the stimulants. All five compounds induced germination under these conditions, with percentages varying between 18% and 98% depending on stimulant and species. There were no noticeable signs of decomposition of the stimulants. The best performing stimulant is derived from 1-tetralone. We conclude that synthetic strigolactones analogues have excellent prospects for use in combating parasitic weeds. Further testing will be needed to evaluate whether such prospects can be realised in the field. © 2012 The Authors. Weed Research © 2012 European Weed Research Society.
Authors & Co-Authors
Kgosi, R. L.
United Kingdom, Reading
University of Reading
Botswana, Gaborone
Botswana Ministry of Agriculture
Zwanenburg, Binne G.
Netherlands, Nijmegen
Radboud Universiteit
Mwakaboko, Alinanuswe Simon
Netherlands, Nijmegen
Radboud Universiteit
Tanzania, Dar es Salaam
University of Dar es Salaam
Murdoch, Alistair J.
United Kingdom, Reading
University of Reading
Statistics
Citations: 57
Authors: 4
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1365-3180.2012.00912.x
ISSN:
00431737