Results of the study of the weed-field flora of Primorsky Territory in 2016-2020

The results of the study of the weed component of soybean, early grain crops and maize agrocenoses in Primorsky Territory are presented. In total, 111 species of weeds belonging to 35 families were found during the period from 2016 to 2020. Compared with the results of crop surveys conducted in 2006-2015, the total number of species detected has increased by 23. The largest number of species belongs to the families Asteraceae (24), Poaceae (15), Polygonaceae (11), Fabaceae (9), Brassicaceae (8), Caryophyllaceae (7) and Lamiaceae (5). The remaining 26 families were represented by 1-3 species each. For the first time weeds-representatives of the families Scrophulariaceae, Violaceae, Lythraceae, Onagraceae, Asclepiadaceae and Boraginaceae have been discovered. The floristic composition of soybean agrocenoses was the highest with 108 weed species from 31 families. In cereal and maize crops, weed diversity was less significant, with 75 species in 22 families and 72 species in 25 families, respectively. Weed vegetation in all the above crops is represented by 62 species of 19 families. The main weed species that grew on 97-99% of the surveyed territory with a sufficiently high average density of standing (21-61pcs/m2) were Asian copperleaf, cockspur grass and common ragweed. Also, more than half of the surveyed crops of soybeans, cereals and corn were hairy cupgrass, perennial sow thistle, common couch-grass, common lamb’s quarters, wormwood species, field horsetail, yellow thistle, dayflower and yellow foxtail. Practical measures to protect against weeds on the Primorsky Territory should be primarily aimed at controlling these species.

Herbicides for lamb's quarters control in soybean crops

The results of the study of toxicity level for the lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album L.) of well-known herbicides used in soybean crops as well as herbicides promising for soybean production in the Far East are presented. Lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album L.) is a highly noxious weed species that is widespread in the south of the region. Weediness monitoring conducted in 2006-2020 showed that this species was present in the Primorsky Territory on 63-100% of fields occupied by soybeans with an average growth density of 3-117 pcs/m2. In 2013-2020 in a series of experiments, conducted in the conditions of the vegetation house and on the experimental fields of the institute, the toxicity level for Common lamb's quarters was determined by 20 herbicides (based on 14 active substances) used in soybean crops. It was found that the control of this weed species is most effective when applying herbicides in the soil and treating plants with a height of up to 4-11 cm at the early stages of development - 1-3 pairs of leaves. Reliable suppression of lamb's quarters in experiments was provided by the soil (before sowing or before soybean seedlings) use of herbicides containing active substances metribuzin, imazetapir, trifluralin, pendimetalin and acetochlor. Among the active ingredients of the tested foliar herbicides, fomesafen, combinations of bentazone + acifluorfen and imazamox + chlorimuron-ethyl were the most toxic for lamb's quarters. It is recommended to use the following herbicidal preparations to control the spread of lamb's quarters: before sowing or sprouting of soybeans - Lazurit, Zenkor Ultra, Pivot, Proponit, Fabian; for processing vegetative plants - Flex, Galaksi Top, Concept, Classic Forte (Harmony Classic), Proponit.

Redroot Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) and Lamb’s Quarters (Chenopodium album L.) Populations Exhibit a High Degree of Morphological and Biochemical Diversity

Amaranthus retroflexus L. and Chenopodium album L. are noxious weeds that have a cosmopolitan distribution. These species successfully invade and are adapted to a wide variety of diverse climates. In this paper, we evaluated the morphology and biochemistry of 16 populations of A. retroflexus L. and 17 populations of C. album L. Seeds from populations collected from Spain, France, and Iran were grown together at the experimental field of the agriculture research of University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, and a suite of morphological traits and biochemical traits were assessed. Among the populations of A. retroflexus L. and of C. album L. were observed significant differences for all the measured traits. The number of branches (BN) for A. retroflexus L. (12.22) and inflorescence length (FL; 14.34) for C. album L. were the two characteristics that exhibited the maximum coefficient of variation. Principal component analysis of these data identified four principal components for each species that explained 83.54 (A. retroflexus L.) and 88.98 (C. album L.) of the total variation. A dendrogram based on unweighted neighbor-joining method clustered all the A. retroflexus L. and C. album L. into two main clusters and four sub-clusters. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was used to evaluate relationships between climate classification of origin and traits. Similarly, the measured characteristics did not group along Köppen climate classification. Both analyses support the conclusion that A. retroflexus L. and C. album L. exhibit high levels of diversity despite similar environmental histories. Both species also exhibit a high diversity of the measured biochemical compounds indicating that they exhibit different metabolic profiles even when grown concurrently and sympatrically. Several of the biochemical constituents identified in our study could serve as effective indices for indirect selection of stresses resistance/tolerance of A. retroflexus L. and C. album L. The diversity of the morphological and biochemical traits observed among these populations illustrates how the unique selection pressures faced by each population can alter the biology of these plants. This understanding provides new insights to how these invasive plant species successfully colonize diverse ecosystems and suggests methods for their management under novel and changing environmental conditions.

Variability of morphophysiological parameters of Chenopodium album and Taraxacum officinale in the conditions of Kazan

One of the promising methods for the integral assessment of the quality of the environment and the vital activity of herbaceous plants is the assessment of the state of living organisms by the morphometric characters development stability. The study revealed an increase in the variability of morphological characters in the plants of lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album) and milk-witch gowan (Taraxacum officinalis) in areas with a high level of technogenic pollution. Phenotypes with smaller sizes of vegetative organs prevailed there, as compared with the area with a low level of pollution. At the same time, viable seeds and seedlings were formed in the plants of urban cenoses.

USING EXTRACTS OF LAMB'S QUARTERS WEED FOR CONTROL OF Alternaria alternata

Antifungal potential of extracts of different parts of lamb's quarters weed (Chenopodium album L.) against a plant pathogenic fungus Alternaria alternate assessed through laboratory bioassays. Different parts of the weed were soaked in methanol for two weeks to get the extracts. The solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure, and different concentrations of the extracts of each plant part (1 to 5%) were prepared in malt extract broth. Leaf, root and fruit extracts exhibited pronounced antifungal activity resulting in 23–95%, 29–96% and 9–94% suppression in biomass of A. alternata. The effect of stem extract was insignificant. This study concludes that all parts of C. album except stem contain potent antifungal constituents to control A. alternata.