Vol. 82 No: 5

Title:
Guest Editorial: Bioherbicide Research: Defining Success (A Tribute to Raghavan Charudattan)

Author:
DR. ERIN ROSSKOPF

pp: 671-672

Abstract:
Many excellent reviews on the biological control of weeds using plant pathogens have been written recently. The themes of these reviews often include the “success” of programmes, ultimately defined as the registration of a product and its commercial viability. However, many candidate biocontrol organisms fail to reach this point, so reviewers also discuss the limitations and challenges encountered during the process of developing bioherbicides. In some instances, biological control agents perform well during small-scale laboratory or greenhouse trials, but do not retain the same level of activity when applied to weeds in the field. Several possible explanations for this include the impact of changes associated with the macro- and micro-environments, the methods and/or substrates used during large-scale culture of the biocontrol organism, and, possibly more important and often overlooked, factors associated with leaf-surface ecology, including the potentially negative effects of epiphytic microflora and fauna on the bioherbicidal agent being applied. Exacerbating such problems associated with scale-up and field-scale application are variations in the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of target weed populations. In controlled greenhouse efficacy trials, there may be limited genetic diversity and the natural progression of plant reproduction and development may not be accurately represented over the time-frame used in greenhouse trials.

Full text: JHSB Subscribers     ISHS members & other users
(PDF 774696 bytes)

Go back to previous page