A mycoherbicide is a

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

based on a

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

. As a biological agent, these "mycoherbicides... work by producing toxic compounds that dissolve the cell walls of targeted plants". Unlike traditional herbicides, mycoherbicides can reproduce themselves and linger in the soil for many years to destroy replanted crops.

Commercial weed control products

These include: * '' Alter naria destruens'', to control

dodder ''Cuscuta'' (), commonly known as dodder or amarbel, is a genus of over 201 species of yellow, orange, or red (rarely green) parasitic plants. Formerly treated as the only genus in the family Cuscutaceae, it now is accepted as belonging in the ...

* ''

Chondrostereum purpureum Silver leaf is a fungal disease of trees caused by the fungus plant pathogen ''Chondrostereum purpureum''. It attacks most species of the rose family Rosaceae, particularly the genus ''Prunus''. The disease is progressive and often fatal. The comm ...

'', to control ''

Prunus ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the p ...

'' & ''

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

'' spp. in parts of Europe and Canada * ''

Colletotrichum acutatum ''Colletotrichum acutatum'' is a plant pathogen and endophyte. It is the organism that causes the most destructive fungal disease, anthracnose, of lupin species worldwide. It also causes the disease postbloom fruit drop on many varieties of citru ...

'', to control Silky hakea * ''

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides ''Glomerella cingulata'' is a fungal plant pathogen, being the name of the sexual stage ( teleomorph) while the more commonly referred to asexual stage (anamorph) is called ''Colletotrichum gloeosporioides''. For most of this article the pathoge ...

'' f. sp. ''aeschynomene'': isolated from Northern joint vetch ('' Aeschynomene virginica'') for rice & soybeans * '' Cylindrobasidium laeve'' to control ''

Acacia mearnsii ''Acacia mearnsii'', commonly known as black wattle, late black wattle or green wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is usually an erect tree with smooth bark, bipinnate lea ...

'' (black wattle) in S. Africa * ''

Phytophthora palmivora ''Phytophthora palmivora'' is an oomycete that causes bud-rot of palms, fruit-rot or kole-roga of coconut and areca nut. These are among the most serious diseases caused by fungi and moulds in South India. It occurs almost every year in Malna ...

'': isolated from strangler vine (''

Morrenia odorata ''Morrenia odorata'', the latexplant or strangler vine, is a plant in the family Apocynaceae, which is native to South America (Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay). This plant is cited in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp ...

'') * '' Puccinia canaliculate'', to control

Yellow nutsedge ''Cyperus esculentus'' (also called chufa, tiger nut, atadwe, yellow nutsedge, and earth almond) is a species of plant in the sedge family widespread across much of the world. It is found in most of the Eastern Hemisphere, including Southern Eur ...

* '' Puccinia thalaspeos'', to control

Dyer's woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

* ''

Sclerotinia minor ''Sclerotinia minor'' (white mold) is a plant pathogen infecting Chicory, Radicchio,Steven T. Koike, Peter Gladders and Albert Paulus carrots, tomatoes, sunflowers, peanuts and lettuce. References External links Index FungorumUSDA ARS Fungal ...

'', to control

Dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...

Drug plants

In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, the

Office of National Drug Control Policy The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is a component of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The Director of the ONDCP, colloquially known as the Drug Czar, heads the office. "Drug Czar" was a term first used ...

Reauthorization Act of 2006 (H.R. 2829) passed with the inclusion of language to initiate research into the use of mycoherbicides against drug crops in foreign countries. In particular, the U.S. is considering using ''

Fusarium oxysporum ''Fusarium oxysporum'' (Schlecht as emended by Snyder and Hansen), an ascomycete fungus, comprises all the species, varieties and forms recognized by Wollenweber and Reinking within an infrageneric grouping called section Elegans. It is part of ...

'' as a mycoherbicide against

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, Al ...

plants in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. The

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

is currently drafting its own version of the bill.

References

{{reflist

External links

Fact Sheet on Mycoherbicide Cooperation

Center for International Policy The Center for International Policy (CIP) is a non-profit foreign policy research and advocacy think tank with offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City. It was founded in 1975 in response to the Vietnam War. The Center describes its mission ...

Wired article about mycoherbicide use against coca plants
Herbicides * Fungus ecology Fungi and humans

Commercial weed control products

Drug plants

See also

References

External links