The Effect of Glyphosate on Anatomical and Physiological Features of Alfalfa Infested with Field Dodder (Cuscuta campestris Yunck.)

Ahmet Uludag,Dragana Bozic,Sava Vrbnicanin,Marija Saric-Krsmanovic,Jelena Gajic-Umiljendic,Ljiljana Radivojevic

doi:10.15832/ankutbd.478686

Abstract

Field dodder (Cuscuta campestris Yunck.) is a very harmful parasitic weed species worldwide which infests many crops, including alfalfa as a foremost forage crop. Glyphosate has been an effective herbicide for field dodder control even though side effects occasionally occur in alfalfa plants. To find out and quantify the effects of glyphosate (288 and 360 g a.i. ha-1) on field dodder control, alfalfa forage yield, and physiological and anatomical features of alfalfa plants under controlled conditions were aims of the study. Physiologic (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total carotenoids); and anatomic parameters were measured. Leaf anatomic parameters were thicknesses of upper epidermis, palisade and spongy tissues, mesophyll and underside leaf epidermis, and diameter of bundle sheath cells. Stem anatomic parameters were thicknesses of epidermis and cortex, and diameters of stem and central cylinder (pith). Both rates of glyphosate caused recovery of the harmful effects of field dodder on alfalfa, which shows that glyphosate can control field dodder at early stages of infestation on alfalfa.

Highlights

Field dodder (Cuscuta campestris Yunck.) is a very harmful parasitic weed species worldwide which infests many crops, including alfalfa as a foremost forage crop
The effects of field dodder infestation of alfalfa have been reported (Saric-Krsmanovic et al 2016).The aim of the present study is to find out the effects of glyphosate application on physiologic and anatomic parameters and yield of alfalfa
Two different checks were included in the experiment: alfalfa plants noninfested with field dodder (N) and infested with field dodder (I), but neither treated with glyphosate

Summary

Introduction

Field dodder (Cuscuta campestris Yunck.) is a very harmful parasitic weed species worldwide which infests many crops, including alfalfa as a foremost forage crop. Stem anatomic parameters were thicknesses of epidermis and cortex, and diameters of stem and central cylinder (pith) Both rates of glyphosate caused recovery of the harmful effects of field dodder on alfalfa, which shows that glyphosate can control field dodder at early stages of infestation on alfalfa. The Effect of Glyphosate on Anatomical and Physiological Features of Alfalfa Infested with Field Dodder..., Saric-Krsmanovic et al. Glyphosate sprayed to dodder parasitized alfalfa at different rates caused injury to death of the field dodder while there was no injury to minimal damage on alfalfa in various studies (Dawson & Saghir 1983; Dawson 1990a; Dawson 1990b; Saric-Krsmanovic et al 2015). In pot and field trials, glyphosate has demonstrated better results than other herbicides; the effectiveness of the herbicides, including glyphosate, was lower in heavily infested alfalfa fields (Saric-Krsmanovic et al 2015)

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