Know your enemy: Application of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to invasive species control

Extreme weather and globalisation leave our climate vulnerable to invasion by alien species, which have negative impacts on the economy, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Rapid and accurate identification is key to the control of invasive alien species. However, visually similar species hinder conservation efforts, for example hybrids within the Japanese Knotweed complex. We applied the novel method of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy combined with chemometrics (mathematics applied to chemical data) to historic herbarium samples, taking 1580 spectra in total. Samples included five species from within the interbreeding Japanese Knotweed complex (including three varieties of Japanese Knotweed), six hybrids and five species from the wider Polygonaceae family. Spectral data from herbarium specimens were analysed with several chemometric techniques: support vector machines (SVM) for differentiation between plant types, supported by ploidy levels; principal component analysis loadings and spectral biomarkers to explore differences between the highly invasive Reynoutria japonica var. japonica and its non-invasive counterpart Reynoutria japonica var. compacta; hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) to investigate the relationship between plants within the Polygonaceae family, of the Fallopia, Reynoutria, Rumex and Fagopyrum genera. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy coupled with SVM successfully differentiated between plant type, leaf surface and geographical location, even in herbarium samples of varying age. Differences between Reynoutria japonica var. japonica and Reynoutria japonica var. compacta included the presence of two polysaccharides, glucomannan and xyloglucan, at higher concentrations in Reynoutria japonica var. japonica than Reynoutria japonica var. compacta. HCA analysis indicated that potential genetic linkages are sometimes masked by environmental factors; an effect that can either be reduced or encouraged by altering the input parameters. Entering the absorbance values for key wavenumbers, previously highlighted by principal component analysis loadings, favours linkages in the resultant HCA dendrogram corresponding to expected genetic relationships, whilst environmental associations are encouraged using the spectral fingerprint region. The ability to distinguish between closely related interbreeding species and hybrids, based on their spectral signature, raises the possibility of using this approach for determining the origin of Japanese knotweed infestations in legal cases where the clonal nature of plants currently makes this difficult and for the targeted control of species and hybrids. These techniques also provide a new method for supporting biogeographical studies.

Allelopathy of Knotweeds as Invasive Plants

Perennial herbaceous Fallopia is native to East Asia, and was introduced to Europe and North America in the 19th century as an ornamental plant. Fallopia has been spreading quickly and has naturalized in many countries. It is listed in the world’s 100 worst alien species. Fallopia often forms dense monospecies stands through the interruption of the regeneration process of indigenous plant species. Allelopathy of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), giant knotweed (Fallopia sachalinensis), and Bohemian knotweed (Fallopia x bohemica) has been reported to play an essential role in its invasion. The exudate from their roots and/or rhizomes, and their plant residues inhibited the germination and growth of some other plant species. These knotweeds, which are non-mycorrhizal plants, also suppressed the abundance and species richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the rhizosphere soil. Such suppression was critical for most territorial plants to form the mutualism with AMF, which enhances the nutrient and water uptake, and the tolerance against pathogens and stress conditions. Several allelochemicals such as flavanols, stilbenes, and quinones were identified in the extracts, residues, and rhizosphere soil of the knotweeds. The accumulated evidence suggests that some of those allelochemicals in knotweeds may be released into the rhizosphere soil through the decomposition process of their plant parts, and the exudation from their rhizomes and roots. Those allelochemicals may inhibit the germination and growth of native plants, and suppress the mycorrhizal colonization of native plants, which provides the knotweeds with a competitive advantage, and interrupts the regeneration processes of native plants. Therefore, allelopathy of knotweeds may contribute to establishing their new habitats in the introduced ranges as invasive plant species. It is the first review article focusing on the allelopathy of knotweeds.

New Approaches on Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) Bioactive Compounds and Their Potential of Pharmacological and Beekeeping Activities: Challenges and Future Directions

Known especially for its negative ecological impact, Fallopia japonica (Japanese knotweed) is now considered one of the most invasive species. Nevertheless, its chemical composition has shown, beyond doubt, some high biological active compounds that can be a source of valuable pharmacological potential for the enhancement of human health. In this direction, resveratrol, emodin or polydatin, to name a few, have been extensively studied to demonstrate the beneficial effects on animals and humans. Thus, by taking into consideration the recent advances in the study of Japanese knotweed and its phytochemical constituents, the aim of this article is to provide an overview on the high therapeutic potential, underlining its antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects, among the most important ones. Moreover, we describe some future directions for reducing the negative impact of Fallopia japonica by using the plant for its beekeeping properties in providing a distinct honey type that incorporates most of its bioactive compounds, with the same health-promoting properties.

Regional differences in clonal Japanese knotweed revealed by chemometrics-linked attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy

Background Japanese knotweed (R. japonica var japonica) is one of the world’s 100 worst invasive species, causing crop losses, damage to infrastructure, and erosion of ecosystem services. In the UK, this species is an all-female clone, which spreads by vegetative reproduction. Despite this genetic continuity, Japanese knotweed can colonise a wide variety of environmental habitats. However, little is known about the phenotypic plasticity responsible for the ability of Japanese knotweed to invade and thrive in such diverse habitats. We have used attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, in which the spectral fingerprint generated allows subtle differences in composition to be clearly visualized, to examine regional differences in clonal Japanese knotweed. Results We have shown distinct differences in the spectral fingerprint region (1800–900 cm− 1) of Japanese knotweed from three different regions in the UK that were sufficient to successfully identify plants from different geographical regions with high accuracy using support vector machine (SVM) chemometrics. Conclusions These differences were not correlated with environmental variations between regions, raising the possibility that epigenetic modifications may contribute to the phenotypic plasticity responsible for the ability of R. japonica to invade and thrive in such diverse habitats.

Effects of invasive japanese knotweed on diversity and structure of soil nematode communities

In this study we investigated the communities of soil nematodes in the forest habitats invaded and uninvaded by Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Decr., in Tatra National Park, Slovakia. We found that invasion by F. japonica altered nematode communities and their structures. Total nematode abundance, species number and nematode biomass were significantly lower in invaded than uninvaded plots, but species diversity remained unaffected throughout the study. The overall abundance of all nematode trophic groups well represented the negative impact of F. japonica invasion on soil food webs, supported by low values of all maturity indices, a structural index and the Jaccard index of faunal similarity. A weighted faunal analysis similarly characterized the food webs of invaded plots as poorly developed or highly disturbed, with bacterial decomposition and a low C/N ratio. Our findings thus suggest that dense plots of knotweed simplify the structural complexity of the soil environment by reducing the richness of plant species, which may have contributed to the negative changes in the structures of the nematode communities.

Regeneration and growth in crowns and rhizome fragments of Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) and desiccation as a potential control strategy

Reynoutria japonica (Japanese knotweed) is a problematic invasive plant found in many areas of Europe and North America. Notably, in the UK, the species can cause issues with mortgage acquisition. Control of R. japonica is complicated by its ability to regenerate from small fragments of plant material; however, there remains uncertainty about how much (in terms of mass) rhizome is required for successful regeneration. This study investigated the ability of crowns and rhizomes with different numbers of nodes to regenerate successfully from three sites in the north of England, UK. Two of the sites had been subject to herbicide treatment for two years prior to sampling and the third site had no history of herbicide treatment. No significant differences were observed in regenerated stem diameter, maximum height of stem and maximum growth increments among crowns. All traits measured from the planted crowns were significantly greater than those of the planted rhizome fragments and at least one node was necessary for successful regeneration of rhizomes. The smallest initial fragment weight to regenerate and survive the experiment was 0.5 g. Subjecting all plant material to desiccation for 38 days resulted in no regrowth (emergence or regeneration) after replanting. These findings suggest that desiccation could be a valuable management strategy for small to medium scale infestations common in urban settings.