IPPS Executive Committee Election 2024

We are delighted to announce the commencement of the nomination process for the 2024 Executive Committee (EC) election. This is an exceptional opportunity for committed members like yourself to actively shape the future trajectory and success of our organization. In 2024, the following positions within the IPPS Executive Committee will conclude their term of service: […]

Phytotoxic fungal secondary metabolites as herbicides

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Abstract : Among the alternatives to synthetic plant protection products, biocontrol appears as a promising method. This review reports on the diversity of fungal secondary metabolites phytotoxic to weeds and on the approach generally used to extract, characterize, identify and exploit them for weed management. The 183 phytotoxic fungal secondary metabolites discussed in this review […]

Promising results of Suicidal Germination Technology against Striga in Field Trials in Sorghum in Tanzania

Tanzania field visit

Recently we tested liquid formulation of two promising suicidal agents MP3 and Nijmegen-1 in Highly Striga infested famers field in Tanzania in collaboration with Dr Dennis Tippe of TARI. The results looks very promising and we observed 50-70% reduction in Striga emergence. The results indicate future scope and hope to reduce Striga infestation in African […]

It’s not witchcraft: the role of abscisic acid for Striga germination and conditioning

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  For the highlighted publication, Muhammad Jamil, Jian You (Eric) Wang, Yagiz Alagoz and colleagues, under the lead of Salim Al-Babili, addressed the question of how Striga hermonthica seed dormancy and germination are correlated with endogenous ABA levels (Jamil et al., 2024). The Plant Journal Editor choice: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tpj.16668  […]

Farmer-instruction video on Striga management in sorghum

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More Sorghum, Less Striga? Using resistant cultivars and improved crop nutrition. Striga is a parasitic weed causing severe yield losses to sorghum and other cereal crops in sub-Saharan Africa. This 17-minute farmer-instruction video emphasises the need for an integrated management approach to address that problem. The video shows examples of Striga-resistant sorghum cultivars and suggests […]

Reminder: application open for travel grants for the 17th World Congress on Parasitic Plants, 3–7 June 2024, Nara, Japan. Deadline 29 February.

The IPPS and the WCPP2024 local organizing committee offer two types of travel grants for outstanding PhD students and early-career researchers. The WCPPs are a series of biennial meetings with a long tradition, providing opportunities to exchange information and discuss new discoveries among experts of parasitic plants. WCPP17 will cover a wide range of topics […]

New paper: Pectin modifications promote haustoria development in the parasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum

Plant Physiology https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiad343 Martina Leso, Anna Kokla, Ming Feng & Charles W Melnyk   The formation of the haustorium is common to all parasitic plants and requires a dedicated process of growth, attachment and tissue invasion. Such a process presumably involves cell wall modifications to allow cell division, cell expansion and the digestion of host […]

New paper: Differences in the ecology of witchweed and vampireweed: Implications for rice farming in Africa

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Plants People Planet, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10491 Jonne Rodenburg & Lammert Bastiaans   Parasitic weeds in African rice systems affect household-level food security and income generation in Africa. Most affected farmers are smallholders with limited weed management capacities, crop production infrastructure and resources. The facultative parasite Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (rice vampireweed) has become a major problem in rainfed lowland rice whereas the […]

New Publication: Abscisic acid inhibits germination and delays conditioning of Striga seeds and is released upon germination to provide competitive advantage and supporting host infestation

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Striga hermonthica, a root parasitic weed from the Orobanchaceae family, devastates cereals yields and is, therefore, one of the major biological threats to global food security. Herein, we uncover a role of abscisic acid (ABA) as a rhizospheric signal that is involved in controlling Striga seed germination, Striga/Striga and Striga/host interactions. We propose that ABA serves as […]