Herbicidal Activity of Aspergillus niger Metabolites Against Parthenium Weed

Abstract

Metabolites of Aspergillus niger, prepared in malt extract (ME) broth and potato dextrose (PD) broth, were evaluated for their herbicidal activity against a noxious parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus). In laboratory assays, original (X) and diluted (½ X) fungal metabolites significantly reduced germination and seedling growth of weed. However, metabolites prepared in ME broth proved to have greater herbicidal activity than metabolites prepared in other growth medium. Original metabolites prepared in ME broth have completely hinder the germination of parthenium seeds; while those prepared in PD broth have reduced germination by 89% over control. In pot trials, one-week, two-week and three-week-old parthenium seedlings were sprayed three times with original and concentrated (2X) metabolites of A. niger prepared in ME broth. Plants were harvested after 40 days of sowing. One-week treatment plants were most susceptible to fungal metabolites spray, followed by two-week and three-week treatment plants, respectively. Original and concentrated metabolites have significantly reduced shoot biomass of one-week-old plants by 57% and 68%, and root biomass by 50% and 75%, respectively. The present study has come to the conclusion that A. niger metabolites prepared in ME broth can effectively control germination and growth of parthenium.

Atividade fitotóxica de um filtrado de cultura de Cercospora brachiata sobre sementes e parte aérea de Amaranthus viridis

“…Os metabólitos de Aspergillus niger preparados em caldo de extrato de malte e caldo de batata e dextrose foram avaliados quanto à sua atividade herbicida contra Parthenium hysterophorus, em duas concentrações, original (X) e diluída (½ X). Os metabólitos originais preparados em caldo extrato de malte inibiram completamente a germinação de sementes da planta daninha, ao passo que os preparados em caldo de batata e dextrose reduziram a germinação em 89% em relação ao controle (Bashir et al, 2018).…”

Metabolites of Penicillium Citrinum as Potent Herbicides Against Parthenium Weed

“…significantly retarded the germination of parthenium seeds up to 90%, 50% and 73%, respectively. Similarly, metabolites of Alternaria japonica and Aspergillus niger significantly reduced germination of parthenium (Javaid et al, 2017;Bashir et al, 2018). In the present study, two growth media were used for the preparation of metabolites of P. citrinum.…”

“…There are various reports in which fungal metabolites successfully seized the growth of various weeds including parthenium (Javaid and Ali, 2011;Javaid et al, 2017), through the production of antifungal compounds namely holadysenterine (Akbar et al, 2014), drazepinone (Evidente et al, 2005), and ophiobolin A (Evidente et al, 2006). The herbicidal activity of various fungal species including Trichoderma, Dreschlera, Alternaria and Aspergillus against parthenium has been reported in previous literature Javaid, 2012, 2013;Javaid et al, 2013Javaid et al, , 2017Bashir et al, 2018). Application of metabolites of Alternaria macrospora and A. alternata caused significant damaging to parthenium development (Saxena and Kumar, 2010;Kaur et al, 2014).…”

“…Application of metabolites of Alternaria macrospora and A. alternata caused significant damaging to parthenium development (Saxena and Kumar, 2010;Kaur et al, 2014). Recently, Bashir et al (2018) evaluated metabolites of Aspergillus niger against P. hysterophorus, which were very effective in controlling the growth of P. hysterophorus. Penicillium citrinum is known to produce various secondary metabolites (Jha et al, 2016).…”

“…Sub-culturing of the fungus was done by using 2% malt extract agar medium. Fungal metabolites were prepared under antiseptic conditions by inoculating 2% ME and 2% PD broths with the fungal inoculum in separate flasks of 250-mL volume (Bashir et al, 2018). The fungal inoculated flasks were incubated at 25 °C for 15 days at a static condition.…”