This invited paper summarises a career in which I became increasingly involved in research and related activities on Striga and other parasitic weeds. It also presents a personal view of the present status of parasitic weed problems and their control.
Parasitic plants rely on neighboring host plants to complete their life cycle, forming vascular connections through which they withdraw needed nutritive resources. In natural ecosystems, parasitic plants form one component of the plant community and...
Cuscuta campestris Yunck. is a parasitic weed responsible for severe yield losses in crops worldwide. The selective control of this weed is scarce due to the difficult application of methods that kill the parasite without negatively affecting the inf...
The density of eggs and nymphs of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B and the percent parasitism of the nymphs were measured from specimens collected on nine species of weeds, commonly found in west central Florida during the spring and summer of 20...
We are happy to summarize this important Special Issue (SI) of MDPI Plants—“Parasitic Weeds: Biology and Control” [...]
Cuscuta campestris is a parasitic weed species that inflicts worldwide noxious effects in many broadleaf crops due to its capacity to withdraw nutrients and water directly from the crop vascular system using haustorial connections. Cuscuta campestris...
Weeds such as parasite plants are one of the most serious pests that farmers are forced to combat since the development of agriculture using different methods including mechanic and agronomy strategies. These pests have generated significant losses o...
Sustainable Weed Management Practices (SWMPs) are currently underrepresented in European cropping systems despite considerable attention from the research and policymaking communities. In public discourse, their adoption is associated with low yields...
Dodders (Cuscuta spp.; Convolvulaceae) are parasitic weeds that pose major challenges to agriculture due to their ability to infect a wide range of host plants, extract nutrients, and transmit pathogens. Their control is especially challenging becaus...
Grain and forage legumes are important sources of food and feed, key for sustainable agriculture given the environmental services they provide. However, their cultivation is hampered in the Mediterranean Basin and Near East by the widespread occurren...
Strigolactones (SLs) are multifunctional plant metabolites that govern shoot architecture, facilitate symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and trigger seed germination of parasitic weeds, making them attractive targets for crop improvement. T...
Cuscuta species are obligate parasitic plants that infect the stems of a wide range of hosts including many crop and weed species causing severe agricultural problems. Using in vitro experiments to screen organic extracts prepared from fifteen autotr...
Cuscuta campestris is a parasitic weed species with noxious effects in broadleaf crops worldwide. The control of Cuscuta in the majority of crops affected is limited or non-existing. We tested, for the first time, the effect of eighteen metabolites i...
Broomrape weeds (Orobanche and Phelipanche spp.) are noxious parasites that infect crops using haustoria formed at the tip of their radicles. Dichloromethane extract obtained from the roots of Convolvulus arvensis strongly inhibits the radicle growth...
The damaging competition between crops and parasitic weeds has a negative impact on agricultural productivity; however, the impact of disturbance on the soil’s microbial community has received less attention. Hence, this study investigates the...
The root parasitic weed Phelipanche aegyptiaca poses a serious threat to tomato production in arid regions of Northwest China, yet effective and environmentally friendly control measures remain limited. In this study, an endophytic bacterial strain G...
This study aims to elucidate the physiological and biochemical alterations induced by parasitic Cuscuta sp. (dodder) in lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), a key forage crop. Comparative analyses between infected and healthy plants revealed that significan...
Dodders (Cuscuta spp.) are parasitic plants that threaten the sustainability of many crops. Because this parasite is very adept and successful from biological and ecological perspectives, a single control strategy is unlikely to provide sufficient ec...
Thousands of species of parasitic weeds, such as dodder, pose significant threats to agricultural crops due to their ability to spread rapidly through seeds. When cultivated lands become infested with dodder, the quality of production declines, leadi...
The plant Centaurea cineraria L. subsp. cineraria has been investigated as a potential source of inhibitors of broomrape radicle growth. The latter are weeds that pose a threat to agriculture and for which there are few methods available for the cont...
Pea (Pisum sativum) is an important grain legume worldwide whose cultivation is severely constrained by the root parasitic weed crenate broomrape (Orobanche crenata), which is widespread in the Mediterranean Basin and Middle East. No resistance is av...
Cuscuta campestris Yunck. is one of the most destructive parasitic weeds worldwide, causing substantial economic losses because of its broad host range, prolific seed production, and long-term persistence in the soil seed bank. The limited effectiven...
Bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia (L.) Willd.) is a legume well adapted to cultivation in marginal areas, being an important source of protein for animal feed in low input cropping systems. Surprisingly, it is an underutilized crop as it could be a good al...
Field dodder (Cuscuta campestris yuncker) is an important parasitic weed that has negative impacts on the growth and yield of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Effective control of field dodder in alfalfa crops is necessary to reduce yield losses. Field...
Bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia L.) is an ancient grain legume used as animal feed in the Mediterranean basin. This legume has a large economical potential because of its high yield under low inputs and good protein content, as well as resistance to cold...
Detections of the regulated noxious parasitic weed branched broomrape (Phelipanche ramosa) in California tomato fields have led to interest in eradication, sanitation, and management practices. Researchers in Israel developed a decision-support syste...
Branched broomrape (Phelipanche ramosa (L.) Pomel), an obligate parasitic weed with a wide host range, is known for its devasting effects on many crops worldwide. Soil fungi, notably Fusarium sp., are described as pathogenic to broomrape, while the h...
The dodders (Cuscuta spp.) are parasitic plants that feed on the stems of their host plants. Cuscuta campestris is one of the most damaging parasitic plants for the worldwide agricultural production of broad-leaved crops. Its control is limited or no...
Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth a well-known hemi-parasitic weed, it also has been used widely in African folk medicine to remedy broad spectra of diseases. The current contribution is an attempt to establish reproducible in vitro callusing system. I...
Essential oils produced by plants, and their components, could be sources of new natural herbicidal compounds. Thirteen oils extracted from six wild Lamiaceae species (namely Clinopodium suaveolens (Sm.) Kuntze, Satureja montana L. subsp. montana, Th...
Twelve articles (ten research papers and two reviews) included in the Special Issue entitled “Wheat and Barley: Acclimatization to Abiotic and Biotic Stress” are summed up here to present the latest research on the molecular background of...
Plants are continuously subjected to the unfavorable impact of abiotic stress factors, of which soil salinity is among the most adverse. Although away from direct soil contact throughout most of their lifecycle, stem parasitic plants of the genus Cus...
Parasitic plants belonging to the Orobanchaceae family include species that cause heavy damage to crops in Mediterranean climate regions. Phelipanche aegyptiaca is the most common of the Orobanchaceae species in Israel inflicting heavy damage to a wi...
Orobanche cumana is an obligate holoparasitic plant with noxious effects in sunflower crops. Bellardia trixago is a facultative hemiparasitic plant that infects ruderal plants without noxious significance in agriculture and is known to produce a wide...
(4Z,8Z)-Matricaria lactone (MAT) and (4Z)-lachnophyllum lactone (LAC) are natural acetylenic furanones with bioherbicidal potential. This study evaluates their possibilities and ecotoxicological impact on aquatic (Aliivibrio fischeri, Raphidocelis su...
Phelipanche ramosa is a root parasitic plant fully dependent on host plants for nutrition and development. Upon germination, the parasitic seedling develops inside the infected roots a specific organ, the haustorium, thanks to the cell wall-degrading...
Parasitic plants extract nutrients from the other plants to finish their life cycle and reproduce. The control of parasitic weeds is notoriously difficult due to their tight physical association and their close biological relationship to their hosts....
Parasitic plants have a unique heterotrophic lifestyle based on the extraction of water and nutrients from host plants. Some parasitic plant species, particularly those of the family Orobanchaceae, attack crops and cause substantial yield losses. The...
Parasitic flowering plants represent a diverse group of angiosperms, ranging from exotic species with limited distribution to prominent weeds, causing significant yield losses in agricultural crops. The major damage caused by them is related to the e...
Parasitic weeds of the family Orobanchaceae attach to the roots of host plants via haustoria capable of drawing nutrients from host vascular tissue. The connection of the haustorium to the host marks a shift in parasite metabolism from autotrophy to...
Holoparasitic broomrape weeds (Orobanche and Phelipanche spp.) are a major biotic constraint limiting the production of important food crops. Parasitism caused by Phelipanche spp. is considered to be a serious threat, particularly in the Mediterranea...
The study of allelopathic activity of plants and the isolation and characterization of the responsible allelochemicals can lead to the development of environment friendly alternative approaches to weed control. Conyza species are invasive weeds that...
Broomrape (Orobanche cernua L.) is an obligate root parasitic weed that significantly reduces the qualitative and yield attributes of tomatoes globally. The efficient management of broomrape is challenging because of its complicated parasitic nature....
In agro-ecosystems, pests (insects, weeds, and other plant’s parasites) compete with crops for edaphic resources, negatively affecting quality and crop yields [...]
Strigolactones (SLs) are a prime example of allelochemicals, promoting parasitic plant germination and certain hyphal branching factors associated to the growth of symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). However, the study of SLs is complex, an...
Dodder (Cuscuta spp.) is a parasitic weed damaging many plants and agricultural production. The native obligate parasite Cuscuta japonica Choisy (Japanese dodder) parasitizes Dimocarpus longans Lour., Ficus septica Burm. F., Ficus microcarpa L.f., Mi...
Background: Although the negative effects of insecticides and herbicides on beneficial and non-target invertebrates are well documented, there is limited information on potential negative impacts of pest and weed management practices used in organic...
Strigolactones (SLs) are plant hormones that regulate several key agronomic traits, including shoot branching, leaf senescence, and stress tolerance. The artificial regulation of SL biosynthesis and signaling has been considered as a potent strategy...
Effective control of the parasitic weed sunflower broomrape (Orobanche cumana Wallr.) can be achieved by herbicides application in early parasitism stages. However, the growing environmental concerns associated with herbicide treatments have motivate...
While most cowpea cultivars are susceptible to parasitism by the root parasitic weed Striga gesnerioides (Willd.) Vatke, cultivar B301 is resistant to all Striga races except for SG4z. Resistance to Striga parasitism is manifested by the elicitation...
of 3