Category: Members

https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcae031 (Open Access) In this study we demonstrate that nutrient availability decreases striga infection levels across host plant genotypes varying in striga tolerance levels. Macronutrients seem to be the main drivers of this observed reduction in striga infection. They improve the photosynthesis rates of striga infected sensitive genotype and even restore those of tolerant sorghum […]

Conference poster Ana Bendejacq-Seychelles. Journée doctorants UMR Agroécologie, Nov 2023, Dijon, France […]

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 […]

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 […]

  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  […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Rafflesia is an endangered endophytic holoparasitic plant that lives the majority of its life inside the tissues of its sole plant host, Tetrastigma. Rafflesia floral buds emerge to produce the world’s largest single flower. Like other plants, holoparasites harbor a diverse microbiome, the role(s) of which has remained largely unstudied. Some of it might involve […]