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Signal, Not Poison—Screening Mint Essential Oils for Weed Control Leads to Horsemint

Sarheed, Mohammed; Schärer, Hans-Jakob; Wang-Müller, Qiyan; Flury, Pascale; Maes, Chloé; Genva, Manon; Fauconnier, Marie-Laure and Nick, Peter (2023) Signal, Not Poison—Screening Mint Essential Oils for Weed Control Leads to Horsemint. Agriculture, 13 (3), pp. 1-15.

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Document available online at: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/3/712


Summary in the original language of the document

Weed control tries to suppress competitors for a crop and often relies on differential intoxication, making use of differences in uptake, development, or metabolism. We explored the possibility of using natural signals to shift competition in favour of the crop. Using the competitive horsemint (Mentha longifolia) as a paradigm, we showed that essential oils from certain mint species suppress the seedling development of different target species in a specific and efficient manner. The specificity concerned both the donor and the receptor. We demonstrated further that the effect of horsemint oil was specific for actin filaments, and not for microtubules. Since the elimination of actin will impair auxin transport, which is essential for root regeneration in vegetatively propagating weeds, we tested the efficacy of horsemint essential oil in combination with a slow-release carrier against field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), a pertinent weed in organic cereal production. We observed that the development of this weed can be specifically blocked, especially if the carrier is worked into the soil. We propose that allelopathic interactions, often relying on manipulative chemical signalling, harbour significant potential for organic weed control.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:Mentha longifolia, horsemint, allelopathy, actin, weed control, Convolvulus, Abacus, FiBL25062, Allelopathy-weed
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
Mentha longifolia
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4745
English
Horsemint -> Mentha longifolia
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4745
English
allelopathy
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_272
English
actin
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_34984
English
weed control
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_8345
English
Convolvulus
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_10087
Subjects: Crop husbandry > Weed management
Research affiliation:Belgium > Wallonia > Université de Liège (ULG)
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Crop protection > Weed control
Switzerland > Other organizations Switzerland
Germany > Other organizations Germany
DOI:10.3390/agriculture13030712
Deposited By: Schaerer, MSc. Agr. Hans-Jakob
ID Code:53159
Deposited On:11 Apr 2024 08:05
Last Modified:06 May 2024 06:47
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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