Abstract: A study was conducted to quantify the spatial and temporal variation in soil juglone (5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) in a 10-year-old black walnut (Juglans nigra L.)–corn (Zea mays L.) alley cropping system. Two treatments (‘root barrier’ and ‘no barrier’) were applied to determine if soil juglone in the alley can be minimized by preventing black walnut root growth into the alley. Although no significant seasonal variation in soil juglone existed, a distinct spatial pattern was observed. Juglone concentration decreased as much as 80% as the distance increased to 4.25 m from the tree row. Installation of polyethylene root barriers minimized juglone concentration to trace levels in the alley. However, this treatment increased juglone levels within the tree row as compared to the ‘no barrier’ treatment, probably as a result of increased rooting density within a limited volume of soil.

Abstract: Laboratory experiments were undertaken to investigate the allelopathic activity of Mexican sunflower in soil as well as to determine the effect of several soil factors on activity. There was a decrease in shoot and root growth of the test plant species when grown in soil previously planted with Mexican sunflower. However, seed germination was not affected. Soil-water separated from the same soil also inhibited shoot and root growth. A water extract from Mexican sunflower leaves applied to soil also reduced shoot and root growth, but the degree of inhibition varied among test plant species. Incorporation of dry Mexican sunflower leaves into soil at the rate of 1 and 2% (w/w) inhibited the growth of rice seedlings. The phytotoxic activity of incorporated leaf residue diminished 4 wk after treatment of soil. The inhibitory effect of a leaf water extract in nonautoclaved soil was less than in autoclaved soil and the phytotoxic effect to rice seedling grown in autoclaved soil was less than in autoclaved sand. It is suggested that the decrease in allelopathic activity of Mexican sunflower extract and its residue in soil is due to the action of soil microorganisms and the soil adsorption of the active components.

Abstract: Using the broadest definition, allelopathy encompasses biochemical interactions among plants at all levels of complexity, including microorganisms (Molisch 1937). Both inhibitory and stimulatory reactions originally were considered part of this concept. Since the appearance of the first major compendium on allelopathy (Rice 1974), however, the term has commonly been accepted to mean any direct or indirect harmful effect by one plant (including microorganisms) on another through the production of chemical compounds released into the environment. Although Rice reverted to the Molisch definition in his second edition (Rice 1984), the term continues to be associated with negative effects among most workers. Those working in allelopathy are often involved in the search for potential herbicides and growth inhibitors, and commonly ignore observed positive effects, publishing only the inhibitory data. The narrower definition is perhaps unwise, since most compounds are both stimulatory and inhibitory depending on the concentration used.

Abstract: Alliaria petiolata (M. Bieb.) Cavara & Grande (garlic mustard) is a non-indigenous member of the Brassicaceae that is invading woodlands throughout eastern North America. Previous work has demonstrated that this species is having a negative effect on the diversity of understory communities and is actively displacing native species. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which allelopathy might be acting as the mechanism of interference. Extracts of garlic mustard root and shoot tissues were applied to seeds and seedlings of four target species used as bioassays: radish, winter rye, hairy vetch, and lettuce. While seed germination rates varied by species and extract concentration, total germination after 5-7 d was largely unaffected by any extract concentration. Only radish seeds treated with the most concentrated root solution exhibited a depressed germination relative to the water control. Likewise, seedling biomass was generally unaffected by any extract treatment. Only shoot biomass for rye was significantly depressed with the highest concentration of leaf extract. Our data provide little evidence that allelopathy is involved in the invasive success or community interference of this non-indigenous species, even though the Brassicaceae are well known to possess potentially biologically active compounds with allelopathic effects.

Abstract: Agroforestry is a modern tool to develop sustainable land use and to increase food production by growing woody species (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc.) with agricultural crops and/or animals in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. Because these species co-exist with the agricultural crops, their allelopathic compatibility may be crucial to determine the success of an agroforestry system. A survey of the available information reveals that most of the agroforestry species (AF species) have negative allelopathic effects on food and fodder crops. Therefore, it is desirable to do further research in this direction so that AF species with no or positive allelopathic effects on the companion crops may be promoted for agroforestry programs. As AF species remain a part of the agroecosystem for a longer period, and most of them produce a large amount of leaves and litter, their allelochemicals may play an important role in developing an eco-friendly pest management strategy. Besides these generally studied aspects of allelopathy, some comparatively newer aspects of research have been identified, such as evaluation of qualitative yield of agroforestry systems, selective behavior of the allelochemicals, effect on soil quality, and the role of tree allelochemicals in animal and human nutrition. If given due consideration, allelopathy could play a pivotal role in conservation of the highly threatened environment, biodiversity, natural resource base, and making agriculture more sustainable through broadening the scope of agroforestry.

Abstract: Acacia confusa (an endemic species) and other introduced species, namely A. aulacocarpa, A. auricumiformi s, A. cincinnata, A. crassicarpa, A. leptocarpa, A. margium, A. polystachya, and A. torfilis were evaluated for allelopathic potential. Among these, A. confusa is widely distributed on the hills and lowlands of Taiwn and often exhibits a unique pattern of weed exclusion under stands. Four study sites were selected. Field observations and measurements were carried out at sites that exhibited relatively pure stands of A. confusa. Although the diversity of understory species was comparatively higher in Acacia stands than in adjacent weedy sites, the total coverage and biomass of understory plants was significantly lower than in control sites. Aqueous extracts (0.5%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5%) of dry leaves and litter of Acacia confusa and other species collected from various sites and dates were bioassayed using lettuce, alfalfa, and Chinese cabbage to examine their phytotoxicity. Most extracts exhibited phytotoxicity even at a concentration as low as 0.5%. Inhibition of radicle growth of test plants varied with sampling sites and dates. Bioassay with 5% extracts or above produced more than 85% inhibition of test plants regardless of habitat. In addition, surface soils col- lected from the upper 20 cm layer of Acacia stands revealed significant inhi- bition as compared with adjacent grassland control soils. The most inhibitory compounds isolated from the ether fraction of aqueous extracts were identified as: ferulic, vanillic, caffeic, gallic, m-hydroxybenzoic, and m-hydroxyphenyl- acetic acids. Unidentified flavonoids were also found. Chromatographic bioas- says of compounds isolated from both ethyl acetate and water fractions of

Abstract: Selected allelochemicals that protect plants from invasion by plant pathogenic fungi were investigated for their activity against the entomopathogenic fungus, Paecilomyces fumosoroseus. The alkaloids tomatine, solanine, and camptothecin; the furanocoumarin, xanthotoxin; and the phenolic, tannic acid were tested for their effects on germination of conidia and blastospores and growth of mycelia. The LC50 values (corresponding to 50% inhibition of germination) for tomatine, solanine, camptothecin, xanthotoxin and tannic acid were 51.6, 95.9, 55.9, 83.0 and 72.8 mg/l respectively. When blastospores were placed on media containing a concentration of the individual allelochemicals that inhibit germination in approximately 50% of conidia, all but blastospores on tomatine had significantly less germination than did aerial conidia. Growth rates of mycelia were slowest in the camptothecin medium, followed by those of tomatine and xanthotoxin and were not significantly different from controls in the media containing solanine and tannic acid. A multitude of biotic and abiotic factors are responsible for specificity and degree of pathogenicity of entomopathogens. The effect of crop plant chemistry on the efficacy of entomopathogens should be quantified further in order to maximize their potential when used concomitantly with resistant plant varieties.

Abstract: We examined the effects of the presence of plant allelochemicals in prey diet, prey availability and supplemental plant material on the growth of the generalist predator Podisus maculiventris (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). We tested two different nymphal stages of this predator. Third to fourth instar nymphs and fifth instar nymphs were fed a diet of prey (Manduca sexta larvae, Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) without allelochemicals in their diet or prey fed maximal levels of allelochemicals (tomatine, rutin and chlorogenic acid) found in their host plant (Lycopersicon esculentum). The nymphs were fed prey ad libitum, once every three days, or once every five days. They were given either no supplemental plant material or a 2 cm slice of green bean pod (Phaseolus vulgaris). We also conducted another experiment with fifth instar nymphs using the same conditions, except that mean levels of allelochemicals found in the host plant were fed to prey instead of maximal levels and the prey were provided either once a day or once every five days. For all experiments, prey scarcity depressed developmental rate, weight gain and relative growth rate. Overall, there was no negative effect of allelochemicals in the diet of the prey on these variables when predators were supplied with an excess of prey, but allelochemicals in the prey diet negatively affected these predators when prey were scarce. The addition of plant material to the diet of third to fourth instar nymphs did not have any effect on developmental rate, final dry weight, or relative growth rate. However, for fifth instar nymphs, the addition of plant material negatively affected these variables. Thus, the addition of plant material to the diet of the nymphs did not alleviate the negative effects of prey scarcity or allelochemicals in prey diet.

Abstract: Analysis of the combined effects of allelochemicals on insect herbivores is useful because there may be adverse additive or even synergistic effects. Analysis of the simultaneous effects of temperature and alleochemicals is also necessary because these factors may interact. We examined the effects of three allelochemicals found in tomato (chlorogenic acid, rutin and tomatine) and thermal regime (21:10 °C and 26:15 °C, representing spring and summer respectively) on five insect herbivores (a Solanaceae specialist, Manduca sexta, and the polyphagous Heliothis virescens, Pseudoplusia includens, Spodoptera frugiperda and Trichoplusia ni). There were allelochemical interactions and thermal regime-allelochemical interactions for all species, and so the patterns were complex. In some cases, paired allelochemicals or the combination of three allelochemicals showed adverse additive effects on insect performance. But that was not always the case, and there were only a few examples of synergism. Negative effects of the allelochemicals were sometimes, but not always, damped by the cooler thermal regime. Comparing the growth rates of the five species in this study with those of a previous study (a total of seven species) revealed five patterns. For two of three pairs of closely-related species, the paired species had distinctly different patterns. For example, for H. virescens, tomatine prevented development and chlorogenic acid slowed growth, whereas for Helicoverpa zea, tomatine just slowed growth and the phenolics had little effect. The specialist Manduca sexta had a pattern that was midway between patterns of the generalists; it was not the most tolerant of the allelochemicals.

Abstract: The question whether or not annual weeds are allelopathic under field conditions is important in assessing the interference potential of annual weed species. Research was conducted to investigate the probable involvement of allelopathy in the interference potential of chickweed, Stellaria media, a polycarpic winter annual weed. Chickweed maintains heterogeneous populations represented by different age-classes under natural conditions. Results indicate that both young and mature growth stages of chickweed contribute water-soluble phenolics to the soil. Soil amended with matured chickweed had a higher phenolic content than weed-infested soils. Both weed-infested and weed-amended soil affect the seedling growth of wheat. Chickweed could be allelopathic also to a crop of the current season under natural conditions, as it contributes water-soluble compounds to its associated soil.Key words: allelopathy, competition, chickweed, phenolics, weed, wheat.

Abstract: A series of stable quinones and their precursors, and enzymatic oxidation products of plant allelochemicals were tested for their effect on maize fungal pathogens, primarily Fusarium graminearum. Benzoquinone was typically significantly more toxic than hydroquinone, while 1,2-naphthoquinone was typically significantly more toxic than 1,2-dihydroxynaphthalene. Aspergillus flavus was the most resistant fungus to these compounds, while Phoma medicaginis was the most susceptible. Applying tyrosinase in conjunction with several phenolic compounds only increased the toxicity of gallic acid to Fusarium graminearum. Applying peroxidase generally increased toxicity of all compounds tested to this fungus in a dose-dependent fashion. Ferulic acid was generally the most toxic compound, both alone and when combined with peroxidase and H2O2, followed by coumaric acid. These results suggest that enzymatic oxidation of plant allelochemicals may result in the generation of products that either are directly toxic to maize pathogens, or indirectly inhibitory due to their ability to tie up nutrients. Nat. Toxins 5:180–185, 1997. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Abstract: The paper deals with the growth inhibitions and interference potential of ericaceous shrubs in the coniferous forests, the possible biological and chemical mechanisms involved and suggests the control measures to combat the problems of growth inhibition. Competition, allelopathy, resource-toxin hypothesis and the involvement of ericoid mycorrhizae have been suggested to explain growth inhibition in conifers. Control of ericaceous shrubs through integrated management practices involving use of herbicides, mulching for destroying vegetative buds depending on the site and the extent of shrub spread apart from the use of mycorrhizal fungi and/or repeated fertilizer application are recommended.

Abstract: Juglone (5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone), a chemical substance produced by black walnut (Juglans nigra L.), inhibits the growth and existence of some beneficial soil microorganisms, especially Frankia spp. isolate ArI3 and Rhizobium japonicum. However, no studies to date have reported on the effect of juglone on soil ammonification and nitrification. A field study and laboratory incubation study to investigate this were conducted. In the field, in situ soil ammonification and nitrification were measured within and outside of a 60-year-old black walnut plantation and a eight-year-old poplar (Populus spp. clone DN 177) plantation. In the lab, soil (Sandy Fox Loam), collected in the absence of black walnut trees, was incubated for periods of one to six weeks in the presence of varying concentrations of juglone. In the field, peak summer mean nitrate accumulation rates in soils within the black walnut and poplar plantation were 163 and 95 μg 100 g-1 dry soil day-1 respectively and in soils outside the plantations, 104 (black walnut) and 78 (poplar) μg 100 g-1 dry soil day-1 respectively. No accumulation of ammonium at the end of the incubation period was noted. Therefore, no inhibition effect of juglone on nitrification in the field was observed, and laboratory incubation results confirmed the results of the field study. Results from these studies should address concerns about nitrification inhibition under walnut based intercropping systems.

Abstract: We determined the localization of phenolic compounds in dormant seeds of two American species of Sesbania (Fabaceae) by a combination of histochemical and biochemical methods. Phenolics are located in different layers of the seed coat and in the subhilar parenchyma. We then investigated the release of these compounds by imbibing seeds of both species. The annual S. vesicaria releases the flavonoid luteolin, with minor amounts of proanthocyanidins, whereas the perennial S. drummondii releases mostly proanthocyanidins. Types and amount of allelochemicals exuded seem related to ecology and life history traits of each species. We then showed mobilisation of these allelochemicals by histochemical sections in imbibing seeds of both species. Histological structure is similar in both species. A number of characters (lens, subhilar parenchyma, tracheid bar) appear to function together to facilitate the exudation of compounds that protect young seedlings. Furthermore, the spatial organization of these organs with interlocking function allows retrieval of defensive substances stored in the seed, and their redeployment is beneficial for seedling survival. We hypothesize that optimisation of the chemical defences allocated to the seed by the maternal parent confers a significant advantage to the seedling, whose energy is mainly committed to growth.

Abstract: Most plants exhibit inhibitory and stimulatory biochemical interactions with other plants and microorganisms, referred to as “allelopathy.” Especially, through root exudates, higher plants are able to affect the microfiora in the rhizosphere. Production of biological active substances by higher plants that prevent phytopathogens (bacteria, fungi, and nema-todes) from infecting crops has been reported (Yoshihara et al. 1988; Schenk et al. 1991). In addition, many species of plants which have been widely used for medicinal purpose also exert an allelopathic effect (Fujii et al. 1991).

Abstract: The effects of four aqueous extracts (0, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0% w/v) of itchgrass [Rottboellia cochinchinensis (Lour.) W. Clayton] and cogongrass (Imperata brasiliensis Trin.) on rice germination and the effects of residues (0, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0% w/w) incorporated in the growth medium on early rice plant development, were tested. Allelochemicals present in weed extracts reduced germination of rice by 11-15% at the highest concentration of extracts. A different effect of residues on total dry matter of seedlings was observed. The lowest concentration of water extracts of weeds increased epicotyl length and reduced the germination index. Only itchgrass extracts had a negative effect on rice root elongation. Growth reduction of rice induced by residues of both weeds was similar and plant height and leaf number per plant were reduced by 22 and 43%, respectively. In contrast, rice radicle length was more sensitive to the itchgrass residues than to the cogongrass residues. Residues of both weeds at the highest level caused a decrease of 50% in N concentration of rice plants. Potassium content was unaffected by cogongrass while P was decreased only by the highest level of residues. The effects were dependent on levels of residues and on weed species. The results demonstrated the allelopathic potential of itchgrass and cogongrass residues on germination and the early development of rice.

Abstract: Sorghum allelopathy has recently been recognized as an effective, economical and environmentally safe natural weed control technology for wheat crop. Allelopathic potential of sorghum has successfully been manipulated for reducting dry weight of important weeds as, Bathu, Dumbi Sittiy, Jangli Javi, Jangli Pallak, Hazardani, Billibooti, and Jangli Halooon by 20-24%, and increasing wheat yield by 10-20%. Inclusion of Sorghum in Cotton-Wheat rotation also helps in reducing deela and Lehli population to a considerable extent.

Abstract: Allelopathy is the process whereby plants produce toxins that limit the growth of other plant species. Forest ecology and agronomy research has dealt with this phenomenon tor some time, but there is a dearth of inquiry about allelopathy in ornamental and shade trees. A review of the literature suggests that herbaceous ground-cover toxins may interfere with nutrient uptake by damaging or destroying root cells, root hairs, and mycorrhizae. Soil texture appears to be a determinant in the extent of damage. Trees on poorly drained soils may be severely damaged, whereas those on well-drained sites may be less affected. Allelopathic factors interact with competitive and environmental factors. Cultural treatments, such as mulching and herbiciding, reduce allelopathic effects as well as competition and environmental stresses. Allelopathic mitigation enhances nutrient uptake, reducing the need for tree fertilization.

Abstract: Zilla spinosa plant part extracts exhibited significantly different inhibitory effect on the seed germination and seedling growth of its associate species. Shoot extract reduced the percentage germination and seedling length of different test species more than root extract. Except of Z. coccineum, seedling growth was more sensitive than seed germination. Shoot/root ratio of all test species increased significantly with increase in extract concentration. Mycelia growth of the two rhizosphere fungal species was more significantly reduced by Z. spinosa shoot extract than root extract. The effects of the different extracts on total protein and total carbohydrate contents of the two test species were comparable. Non-significant increase was recorded at low concentration of both shoot and root extract. However, with the rise of extract concentration, highly significant reduction in the content of these metabolites was recorded.

Abstract: Increased atmospheric CO2 can affect plant growth, so competition among plants may be influenced. Allelopathy is one mechanism involved in plant competition. Experiments were conducted in a controlled-environment chamber to determine if the concentration of atmospheric CO2 altered the dose-response relationship between an allelopathic phenolic acid and tomato seedling biomass. Seeds of Lycopersicon lycopersicum were planted in quartz sand in styrofoam cups and allowed to germinate and grow for 15–17 days. During the next 14 days, seedlings were watered twice daily with nutrient solution amended with p-coumaric acid (4-hydroxycinnamic acid, HOC6H4CH = CHCO2H; ranging 0–0.85 mg mL-1; 5 concentrations in each experiment) and exposed 24 hr day-1 in continuous-stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) to ambient air (335–375 ppm CO2) or ambient air to which 350 ppm CO2 was added (i.e., approximately twice-ambient CO2; two CSTRs per CO2 concentration in each experiment). Dose-response data relating p-coumaric acid concentration and shoot, root, and total biomass were fit to a flexible decay function. In all three experiments, twice-ambient CO2 significantly increased the y-intercept for the dose-response model for the p-coumaric acid effect on shoot biomass by 25–50% but had negligible effects on other aspects of the models. Results suggest that if CO2 affects plant competition, mechanisms involving allelopathic phenolic acids may not be involved.