title: Practicality of the suicidal germination approach for controlling Striga hermonthica.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Purple witchweed (Striga hermonthica), Orobanchaceae, is an obligate root-parasitic weed of important cereal crops. The parasite is a copious seed producer, and a huge seed bank develops soon after the onset of the initial infestation. To germinate, a Striga seed requires a pretreatment in a moist warm environment and a subsequent exposure to an exogenous stimulant. One approach to reduce the seed bank is artificially to induce germination of the seeds in the absence of or away from the host roots. A newly developed germination stimulant for S. hermonthica, designated as T-010, was evaluated for efficacy in greenhouse and field experiments under artificial Striga infestation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  T-010 displayed germination-inducing activity in soil. Formulated T-010 applied at 0.1, 1 and 10 kg ai ha-1to potted soil containing S. hermonthica seeds, previously conditioned by judicious irrigation, reduced Striga emergence by 94-100%. Results of a field trial showed that formulated T-010, at the same rates as for the pot experiment, delayed and reduced Striga emergence by 33% and increased sorghum shoot and head dry weight by 18.7-40.2% and 187-241% respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrated, for the first time, the technical feasibility of suicidal germination for controlling S. hermonthica. Optimising structure, formulation and application protocol of germination stimulants should be the main goal for further improvement of the technology. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Nada, Kobe, Japan.|International Cooperation Centre for Agricultural Education, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Samejima
authors.affiliation: College of Agricultural Studies, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Shambat, Khartoum North, Sudan.|The National Centre for Research, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Abdel Gabar
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Babiker
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Nada, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirosato
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takikawa
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Nada, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Nada, Kobe, Japan. yukihiro@kobe-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
mesh_terms: D002219:Carbamates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000254:growth & development; D018525:Germination / Q000187:drug effects; D007783:Lactones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D057685:Plant Weeds / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D045868:Sorghum / Q000254:growth & development; D034362:Striga / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D058728:Weed Control / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002219:Carbamates; D007783:Lactones
keywords: Striga hermonthica; parasitic weeds; strigolactone mimic; suicidal germination