Background: Tea, one of the most important commercial crops on earth, is strongly affected by weeds on productivity and quality. Bioherbicides are shedding new light on weed control in tea gardens in an economical and safe manner.
Results: A pathogenic strain SYNJC-2-2 was isolated from diseased leaves of a noxious weed, goosegrass (Eleusine indica), from a tea garden in Zhejiang Province, China. It was identified as the fungal species Bipolaris bicolor based on the morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis. The potential of the B. bicolor strain SYNJC-2-2 as a bioherbicide was assessed by determining its efficacy to control weeds and selectivity to crops, its infection process and the influence of environmental conditions on conidial production and germination. The ED90 (effective dose of conidia resulting in 90 disease index) of SYNJC-2-2 on goosegrass was 2 × 104 conidia mL-1 . Additionally, three Poaceae weeds, Setaria viridis, Microstegium vimineum and Pennisetum alopecuroides, were also extremely susceptible to SYNJC-2-2. SYNJC-2-2 was safe to 14 out of 17 crop species in nine families, especially tea plants. Conidial germination, hyphal growth and appressorial formation occurred within 3 to 6 h on goosegrass leaves. Hyphae invaded leaf tissues mainly through epidermal cell junctions and cracks, causing cell death and necrotic lesions within 2 days on inoculated leaves and killing goosegrass plants within 7 days. Furthermore, SYNJC-2-2 has a strong adaptability to environmental variables and high conidial production capacity on goosegrass juice agar media.
Conclusion: Bipolaris bicolor strain SYNJC-2-2 has the potential to be developed as a bioherbicide for controlling goosegrass, especially in tea gardens.
Keywords: bioherbicide; crop safety; disease index; infection; plant pathogen.
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