Fernández-Aparicio Mónica, Delavault Philippe, Timko Michael P
Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 14004 Córdoba, Spain.
Laboratory of Plant Biology and Pathology, University of Nantes, 44035 Nantes, France.
Plants (Basel). 2020 Sep 11;9(9):1184. doi: 10.3390/plants9091184.
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 parasitism contributes to overall community balance. In contrast, when parasitic plants become established in low biodiversified agroecosystems, their persistence causes tremendous yield losses rendering agricultural lands uncultivable. The control of parasitic weeds is challenging because there are few sources of crop resistance and it is difficult to apply controlling methods selective enough to kill the weeds without damaging the crop to which they are physically and biochemically attached. The management of parasitic weeds is also hindered by their high fecundity, dispersal efficiency, persistent seedbank, and rapid responses to changes in agricultural practices, which allow them to adapt to new hosts and manifest increased aggressiveness against new resistant cultivars. New understanding of the physiological and molecular mechanisms behind the processes of germination and haustorium development, and behind the crop resistant response, in addition to the discovery of new targets for herbicides and bioherbicides will guide researchers on the design of modern agricultural strategies for more effective, durable, and health compatible parasitic weed control.
寄生植物依靠邻近的寄主植物来完成其生命周期，通过形成维管连接来获取所需的营养资源。在自然生态系统中，寄生植物是植物群落的一个组成部分，寄生作用有助于维持整个群落的平衡。相比之下，当寄生植物在生物多样性较低的农业生态系统中定殖时，它们的持续存在会导致巨大的产量损失，使农田无法耕种。寄生杂草的防治具有挑战性，因为作物抗性来源很少，而且很难应用足够有选择性的防治方法来杀死杂草而不损害与其在物理和生化上相连的作物。寄生杂草的高繁殖力、传播效率、持久的种子库以及对农业实践变化的快速反应也阻碍了其管理，这使得它们能够适应新的寄主并对新的抗性品种表现出更强的侵害性。除了发现除草剂和生物除草剂的新靶点外，对萌发和吸器发育过程以及作物抗性反应背后的生理和分子机制的新认识，将指导研究人员设计现代农业策略，以更有效、持久且与健康兼容的方式控制寄生杂草。
