Bioherbicides

COMMERCIAL BIOHERBICIDES

Department of Microbiology, KUK Madhu Choudhary

Weed

Weed control

Biological weed control

CommercialBioherbicide

“One year of seeding, Seven years of weeding”

Weeds are the most severe and widespread biological constraint to crop production and cause invisible damage till the crop is harvested. Weeds are responsible for reduction in crop yield and degrade quality of produce besides raising cost of production.

Of the total losses caused by the agricultural pests, weeds contribute to as high as 37 per cent. Unlike other pests, weeds are ubiquitous and affect almost all the crops. Presence of weeds in general reduces crop yield by 31.5 per cent. The composition and competition by weeds are dynamic and dependent on soil, climate, cropping and management factors. ( Vision 2030, DWSR, ICAR)

Weed problems are likely to increase due to increased emphasis on high input agriculture. Further, globalization would also result in new weed problems notwithstanding strict quarantine regulations.

31% of the variation in yield loss due to weeds in cereal crops in Sweden (Milberga and Hallgren, 2004)

There is an urgent need:

1) To discover and develop new weed control technologies and

2) To improve existing weed control technologies that are economically and environmentally sustainable.

There are three types of weed control- Mechanical- Chemical- Biological

Mechanical weed control

Mechanical weed control can be defined as any physical activity that inhibits unwanted plant growth. Mechanical, or manual, weed control techniques manage weed populations through physical methods that remove, injure, kill, or make the growing conditions unfavourable.

Chemical weed control

1. Chlorophenoxy acid herbicides

2. Triazine herbicides

3. Organic phosphorus herbicides OpTill Pro (saflufenacil + imazethapyr and dimethenamid) Armezon 2.8SL (topramezone) Autumn Super 51WDG (iodosulfuron + thiencarbazone) Liberty (glufosinate) is the new name for, and identical to, the product

sold as Ignite in 2011 Basis Blend 30WSG (rimsulfuron + thifensulfuron) Zemax 3.67ZC (mesotrione + S-metolachlor + safener) Gramoxone SL (paraquat) Fierce 76WG (flumioxazin + pyroxasulfone)

Indian herbicides

Drawbacks of using chemical herbicides

The intensive use of chemical herbicides coming under scrutiny due to an increasing number of resistant or tolerant weeds. There are about 307 herbicide resistant weeds biotype worldwide, 113 of these biotypes occurs in the US alone (Heap, 2006). Continuous use of herbicides can lead to the development of resistance in weeds to herbicides viz. isoproturon resistance in Phalaris minor in some parts of the country.

Developmental Toxicity of a Commercial Herbicide Mixture in Mice: I. Effects on Embryo Implantation and Litter Size María Fernanda Cavieres, James Jaeger and Warren Porter Environ Health Perspect 110:1081–1085 (2002).

August 10, 1961, America began spraying Agent Orange in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Operation Ranch Hand waged herbicidal warfare for 10 years.

Agent Orange: The Deadly Legacy of Chemical Warfare by Stephen Lendman. Global Research, Aug. 20, 2012

Radio talk of Radio Australia on 28 August 2012 with Michael Boddington, advisor on disability and rehabilitation at Laos' Prime Minister's Office. United States and Laos yet to deal with Agent Orange legacy, Nearly four decades after the end of the Vietnam War, work has finally begun on cleaning up the first of the hotspots in Vietnam that were contaminated by Agent Orange.

With the increased public awareness on environmental pollution, the focus would shift to the development of ecofriendly weed management technologies in the new millennium.

Biological weed control

Biological control of weeds is the deliberate use of natural enemies to suppress the growth or reduce the population of a problem weed species

Insects Microbes

.

Oxyops vitiosa on Melaleuca quinauenervia: An adult and feeding scars on fully mature leaves at the tip of a twig

Caterpillars of the moth Cactoblastis cactorum bore into the pads of prickly pear. This damages the cactus and introduces a bacterium that causes the plant to die.

The alligatorweed fleabeetle is one of a complex of insectsthat successfully controls this floating aquatic weed

Bioherbicides are biocontrol agents applied to weeds in similar ways to conventional herbicides. The active ingredient in a bioherbicide is, however, a living micro-organism. Most commonly the organism is a fungus, hence the term mycoherbicide is often used in these cases.

Biological weed control, primarily the augmentation of indigenous fungal plant pathogens or the inundative approach, has great potential to reduce chemical inputs and to provide viable, economic, effective weed control components within IPM programs.

Bioherbicides are applied in an attempt to overcome disease restraints by periodically dispersing an abundant supply of virulent inoculum onto a susceptible weed population. The application is timed to take advantage of favorable environmental conditions and/or the most susceptible stage of weed growth.

Characteristics of good MycoherbicideThey should be Culturable in artificial media Capable of abundant spore production Stable in storage Genetically stable Effective under field conditions Tolerant to variations in temperature Compatible with other chemicals/cultural practices.

Strategic framework for evaluation and development of mycoherbicides

Mass production

Formulation

Application technology

Field performance

Mycoherbicides development

Development

The development of a biological herbicide

involves three major phases or stages:

1) Discovery,

2) Development

3) Deployment

(Templeton 1982).

The discovery phase involves the collection of diseased plant material, the isolation of causal organisms, the identification of the pathogen, the culture of the pathogen on artificial media, and the maintenance of the pathogen cultures in short-term and long-term storage.

The development phase includes:1)Determination of optimum conditions for spore

production2)Determination of optimum conditions for disease

development and host damage 3)Examination of the infection process 4)Determination of the mode of action of weed pathogens

and/or toxins5)Determination of host range6)Quantification of the efficacy of the bioherbicide as a

control option.

Within the developed world the third phase, deployment, involves close collaboration between researchers, farmers, and the industrial sector for the production, possible commercialization and use of bioherbicides. Formulation, fermentation, regulatory aspects, marketing, and implementation are essential aspects of this phase. Within the developing world, on-farm production of bioherbicide pathogens may be feasible.

The bioherbicide tactic differs from the classical biocontrol method of weed control in which the dissemination and reproduction of the biocontrol agent is left largely up to nature. In the bioherbicide tactic, massive doses of inoculum are applied directly to all the target weeds one wishes to control. Thus the bioherbicide method requires large numbers of viable propagules and a satisfactory method of storing them so that their viability is maintained until they are required for application.

Mass Production

There are potentially three fermentation systems that may be used for mass production of mycoherbicide agents:

Submerged liquid culture Solid substrate fermentation Two-phase system

Formulation

Formulation is essentially the blending of microbial propagules with a range of carriers or adjuvants to produce a form that can be effectively delivered to target weeds. For microbial agents, formulation may enhance pathogen survival and infection as well as extend propagule stability and product shelf life.

Liquid formulations

These include aqueous, oil, or polymer-based products, that are mostly used as postemergence sprays to cause leaf and stem diseases on the target weed.

Solid formulations

Solid or granular formulations are quite suitable for microorganisms that infect their target weed at or below the soil level and hence suitable for pre-emergence application

Application Technology

The formulated product can be applied to the soil, seeds or to aerial parts of the target weed.

Biological control organisms are most often host specific and usually will control only one weed species. As a result, the biological control strategy is narrow spectrum and normally will be used in combination with other weed control methods including hand weeding, mechanical weeding, or chemical herbicides at low application rates, to obtain the broad spectrum control of common weed species

Commercially Registered Bioherbicides

Pathogen Weed host Trade name

Reference

Colletotrichumgloeosporioides f. sp.aeschynomene

Northern jointvetch

Collego® Bowers, 1986;Smith, 1982, 1991

Colletotrichumgloeosporiodes f. sp.malvae

Round-leavedmallow

BioMal® Boyetchko, 1999;Mortensen, 1998;Mortensen andMakowski, 1997

Colletotrichumgloeosporiodes

Silky Hakea Hakatak™ Morris et al., 1999

Phytophthorapalmivora

Stranglervine DeVine® Ridings, 1986

Pathogen Weed host Trade name Reference

Colletotrichumgloeosporioides

Dodder LuBao Templeton, 1992

Chondrostereumpurpureum

Black cherry BioChon™ Dumas et al., 1997

Cylindrobasidium laeve

Acacia spp. Stumpout® Shamoun andHintz, 1998

Colletotrichum coccodes

Velvetleaf Velgo® Butt, 2000

Pathogen Weed host Trade name Reference

Cercospora rodmanii Water hyacinth ABG-5003 Charudattan, 1991,2001

Alternaria cassiae Sicklepod, coffeesenna, and showycrotalaria

CASST™ Charudattan et al.,1986Jemes 1988

Alternaria sp. Dodder Smolder® Bewick et al., 2000

Puccinia canaliculata Yellow nutsedge Dr. BioSedge®

Bruckart andDowler, 1986;Phatak, 1992

Pathogen Weed host Trade name Reference

Puccinia thlaspeos Isastis tinctoria Woad Warrior Strik et al., 2006

Chondrostereum purpureum

Deciduous tree species

MycoTech™ Barton et al., 2005

Chondrostereum purpureum

Alders and Hard wood

Chontrol™ Ecoclear™

Barton et al., 2005

XanthomonasCampestris

Annual bluegrass Camperico® Imaizum et al., 1997

Sclerotinia minor Dandelion Sarritor Abu-Dieyeh and Watson 2009

DeVine®

Stranglervine

Phytophthora palmivora --- USA in 1981

It is a facultative parasite that produces lethal root and collar rot in host. Used as a liquid suspension formulation.

Botanical name: Morrenia odorata

Commanly found in citrus orchards

Collego®

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f. sp. Aeschynomene --- USA in 1983

Jointvetch stems infected with Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

This used as dry powder formulations. Fungus forms special penetration structures (appressoria) that can punch the plant cuticule which is essential for plant infection. It causes lethal stem and foilage blight in host. Newly registered under the trade name of Lockdown™ and Lockdown Retro™ ( Cartright et al. 2010)

Common name: Indian Joint Vetch, budda pea, curly-indigo, kat sola, northern joint-vetchHindi: didhen, phulan, chhuimui, laugauni Botanical name: Aeschynomene indica Family: Fabaceae (Pea family)

Northern jointvetch

rice & soybeans

Round-leaved mallow Comman name: Common mallow,, Cheeses, Garden mallow, amours Botanical name: Malva pusillaFamily: Malvaceae

Biomal®

This is hydrophilic fungus and delivered as a wettable silica gel powder.

Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes f. sp. Malvae --- Canada in 1992

wheat, lentils & flax

Comman name: Needlebush or Silky Hakea,Botanical name: Hakea sericeaFamily: ProteaceaeIt is a large species of shurb

Hakatak™

Silky Hakea

Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes ---- South Africa in 1999

native vegetation

It is a leafless, parasitic plant that removes nutrients, reduces yield and even kills its host plant. Dodder has been recorded on a wide range of field crops, pasture legumes, vegetables and horticultural crops.

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f.sp. cucsutae--- China in 1963

LuBao®

Used as a liquid formulation of spores to control Cuscuta chinensis and Cuscuta australis.

Dodder

Comman name: black cherryBotanical name: Prunus serotina Family: Rosaceae

BioChon™

Chondrostereum purpureum --- Netherland in 1997

It causes silver leaf diesease

plantation forests

Stumpout®

Cylindrobasidium laeve --- South Africa in 1997

Acacia spp.

It causes White rot disease.Usually supplied as an oil suspension which is diluted with plant oil and painted on to the surface of the cut tree stump.

Black (Acacia mearnsii) and Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha)

Comman name: Velvet Leaf, Indian Mallow, Indian Hemp, Cotton-Weed, Butter-WeedBotanical name: Abutilon theophrasti Family - Malvaceae

Velgo®

This weed mainly found in soyabean and maize crops.

Colletotrichum coccodes --- USA 4808069 Canada 1223005

ABG-5003

Comman name: Water hycinth

Botanical name: Eichhornia Crassipes

Cercospora rodmanii --- Abbott labs, USA

ABG consists mycelial fragments and spores applied as wettable powder.

CASST™

Comman name: Sicklepod Botanical name: Cassia obtusifoliaMainly found in crops of Corn and Soybean

Alternaria cassiae ---USA 1983 It causes seedling blight in sicklepod. Spores are used in water with an oil based adjuvant.(Upadhyay et al., 2009)

Comman name: showy crotalaria Botanical name: Crotalaria spectabilis Family: Fabaceae.

Toxic plant to livestock when seeds or vegetation is consumed (alkaloid toxicity). Tall growing annual legume with showy yellow flowers. Often referred to as rattlesnake weed or rattlebox because seed will separate from replum when dry and will create a rattling sound when disturbed.

Common Name : Coffee Senna, Negro Coffee, Stinking Weed, Foetid CassiaBotanical Name : Cassia OccidentalisFamily : Fabaceae (leguminaceae)

Dr. BioSedge®

Puccinia canaliculata ---USA 1987

Comman name: Yellow nutsedgeBotanical name: Cyperus esculentus

It causes Rust.

soybeans, sugarcane, maize, potato & cotton

Smolder®

Alternaria destruens --- USA in 2005

Dodder

The active ingredient has been formulated into two herbicidal end-use products, Smolder G (a soil applied granular) and Smolder WP (a spray formulation).

Woad Warrior

Puccinia thlaspeos --- USA 2002 It causes rust in host plant

Comman name: Woad

Botanical name: Isastis tinctoria also known asIsatis indigotica

Family: Brassicaceae

MycoTech™ Chontrol™ Ecoclear™

Chondrostereum purpureum --- Canada 2004

Deciduous tree species

Sarritor

Sclerotinia minor : Canada in 2007

Comman name: Dandelion Botanical name: Taraxacum OfficinaleFamily: Asteraceae

Weed found in lawns/ turfs

It causes Sclerotinia blight, white mold and watery soft rots in host.

Liquid suspension formulationsCommon Name: Bluegrass, Scientific Name: Poa annuaWeed Type: Grass

*Camperico®

Xanthomonas campestris --- Japan in 1997

It infects Poa plants through wounds in the stem and leaf tissues and multiplies in the vascular system, causing wilting and death of the plants.

*SolviNix™

Tropical soda apple, TSA

Botanical name: Solanum viarum

Family : Solanaceae

liquid concentrate (SolviNix LC) and a wettable powder (SolviNix WP)

Tobacco mild green mosaic tobamo virus (TMGMV) -- Florida

Challenges

The challenges that have limited the advancement of bioherbicides have been categorized into four constraints:

(a) Biological (b) Environmental (c) Technological (d) Commercial

Work in progress

Another approach may be to transform bioherbicide fungi with genes that code for virulence factors. There is considerable interest in the commercial world in extracting phytotoxins from micro-organisms to use as herbicides, rather than using living organisms with their inherent problems of sensitivity to the environment. Bialophos is in fact, an example of this approach. It is a metabolite of the soil microbe Streptomyces viridochromogenes and is produced by fermentation. It is marketed as Herbiace in Japan.

Functional Analysis of the Ceramide Synthase Gene ALT7, A Homolog of the Disease Resistance Gene Asc1, in the Plant Pathogen Alternaria alternata By Ahmed A Kheder, Yasunori Akagi, Takashi Tsuge and Motoichiro Kodama in J Plant Pathol Microbiol 2012,

Green foxtail (Setaria viridis), one of the most common and troublesome weeds worldwide. Among the new and possible environment-friendly strategies, the use of Drechslera gigantea, Exserohilum rostratum and Exserohilum longirostratum seems to have potential. (Casella et al., 2010)

In Canada, registration of the fungus Phoma macrostoma was approved by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency after reviewing the data package submitted by Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada and The Scotts Company. (IGB News Dec 2011)

Michael G. Cripps, Graeme W. Bourdôt, Karen L. Bailey 2012, Plant pathogens as biocontrol agents for Cirsium arvense – an answer to Müller and Nentwig. NeoBiota 13: 31–39,

Newspaper Biotech Week 11 July 2012, -- Patent Issued for Bioherbicide and Method for Controlling Giant Salvinia. Louisiana Tech University Research Foundation (Ruston, LA) has been issued patent number 8173578 bioherbicide utilizing the fungus Myrothecium verrucaria for controlling Salvinia molesta Mitchell (SAMOS).

Current Status 2012Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (MBI), a global provider of natural pest management products for the agricultural and water treatment markets, announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved MBI-005, a unique broad-spectrum selective bioherbicide for potential use on a variety of crops, turf and ornamentals. MBI-005 is a natural product compound produced by a Streptomyces species that kills weeds by halting cellular biosynthesis and division. (17 May 2012, marronebioinnovations.com)

Australia's first “home-grown” commercial bioherbicide, being developed by Victor Galea, University of Queensland (UQ) associate professor in plant pathology, kills wood bush/plants after a single gelatin capsule containing pathogenic fungi is inserted into the trunk of some perennial woody plants. They isolated 200 local fungi and have further distilled this down to three strains that are most effective at causing parkinsonia dieback. Registration of Australia's first bioherbicide Di-Bak Parkinsonia and the production of pilot batches are expected in 2013. (17 August 2012 agprofessional.com/news)

Peruvian campesinos from the Huallaga Valley in Peru with malformed chocolate that they say was due to the Fusarium epidemic of coca that swept through the region from the early 1980s through the 1990s. The origin of the epidemic is still unclear but there are many who believe that it was a U.S. experiment and that it was either sprayed secretly or that it was sold to unwitting farmers as fertilizer or pest killer.. Whatever the origin, most reports indicate that it also attacked other plants, from Lemongrass to staple foods, and contaminated the soil for long periods. Campesinos also complained of unexpected deaths of family members. U.S. State Department cables from Lima complained of entire communities having to leave their lands because nothing would grow on them after the epidemic hit.Photo: Jeremy Bigwood D.R. 2000. www.nacro.news.com

References

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Bewick, T. A., Porter, J. C., Ostrowski, R. C. (2000). Field trial results with Smolder: A bioherbicide for dodder control. Proceedings of the Northeastern Weed Science Society 54:66.

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Templeton, G. E. (1992). Use of Colletotrichum strains as mycoherbicides. In: Bailey, J. A., Jeger, M. J., eds. Colletotrichum: Biology, Pathology and Control. Wallingford, UK: CAB International, pp. 358–380.

Shamoun, S. F., Hintz, W. E. (1998). Development and registration of hondrostereum purpureum as a mycoherbicide for hardwood weeds in conifer reforestation sites and utility rights-of-way. International Bioherbicide Workshop: Programme and Abstracts, Aug 6–7. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde, pp. 14.

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Imaizumi, S., Nishino, T.,Miyabe, K., Fujimori, T., Yamada, M. (1997). Biological control of annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.) with a Japanese isolate of Xanthomonas campestris pv. poae (JT-P482). Biological Control 8:7–14.

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Phatak, S. C. (1992). Development and commercialization of rust (Puccinia canaliculata) for biological control of yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus L.). Proceedings of the First International Weed Control Congress. Melbourne: Weed Society of Victoria.

Kheder AA, Akagi Y, Tsuge T, Kodama M (2012) Functional Analysis of the Ceramide Synthase Gene ALT7, A Homolog of the Disease Resistance Gene Asc1, in the Plant Pathogen Alternaria alternata. J Plant Pathol Microbiol S2:001.

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Morin, L., Gianotti, A. F., Lauren, D. R. (2000). Trichothecene production and pathogenicity of Fusarium tumidum, a candidate bioherbicide for gorse and broom in New Zealand. Mycol. Res. 104:993–999.

Milberga P., E. Hallgrenb (2004) Yield loss due to weeds in cereals and its large-scale variability in Sweden. Field Crops Research 86: 199–209

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Integratd Pest And Disease Management 2009, By K. G. Mukerji Rajeev H. Upadhyay, O B. P. Chamola, P. Dueby

James S. Bannona1 CASST™ herbicide (Alternaria cassiae); A case history of a mycoherbicide American Journal of Alternative Agriculture Volume 3 / Issue 2-3 / January 1988 , pp 73-76

Wendy A. Stirk, Sherman V. Thomson and Johannes van Staden Effect of Rust-Causing Pathogen (Puccinia thlaspeos) on Auxin-like and Cytokinin-like Activity in Dyer's Woad (Isatis tinctoria) Weed Science. Vol. 54, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct., 2006), pp. 815-820

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Charudattan, R., Walker, H. L., Boyette, C. D., Ridings, W. H., TeBeest, D. O., Van Dyke, C. G., Worsham, A. D. (1986). Evaluation of Alternaria cassiae as a mycoherbicide for sicklepod (Cassia obtusifolia) in regional field tests. Southern Cooperative Service Bulletin. Alabama: Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn Univ., pp. 1–19.

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