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We determined the allelopathic effects of crude organic (hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol) extracts of the cyanobacterial

Thirty-seven commercial aldehydes containing aliphatic chains and aromatic rings as well as heteroaromatic rings were evaluated for their inhibitory activities against Chinese amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.) and barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv). Polysorbate 80 (Tween® 80) was used as a surfactant and the research was preliminarily conducted at 400 μM of all aldehydes. Among these aldehydes, (E)-cinnamaldehyde (7) showed the greatest inhibitory effect on seed germination, shoot and root growth of Chinese amaranth by 54.55%, 75.53%, and 85.13% respectively. Similarly, (E)-crotonaldehyde (5), a related α,β-unsaturated aldehyde, inhibited the germination and seedling growth of the tested species at a high percentage. Apart from these two unsaturated aldehydes, no other aliphatic aldehydes had a harmful effect on Chinese amaranth. In terms of benzaldehyde (6), it had no effect on the tested plant; however, many of its derivatives displayed some inhibitory activity. Furthermore, for the ten common heteroaromatic aldehydes, picolinaldehyde (32) had a high inhibitory effect on Chinese amaranth which closely related to the effect of (E)-crotonaldehyde (5) and (E)-cinnamaldehyde (7), whereas, other heteroaromatic aldehydes showed lower effects. In the case of a monocot plant, barnyardgrass, no tested aldehydes reduced seed germination, however, (E)-cinnamaldehyde (7), 2,4,6-trimethoxybenzaldehyde (16) and 4-(dimethylamino)benzaldehyde (24) could inhibit the seedling growth of the plant with low to moderate levels. The herbicidal effects of the most active aldehydes were then further investigated in order to find the minimum concentration of these aldehydes suppressing the germination and growth of the tested plants. At concentrations as low as 50-100 μM some aldehydes could inhibit the seedling growth of the tested species. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) study reported here demonstrates the chemical clues governing the inhibitory activity of aldehydes which could be utilized in the development of highly effective herbicides in the near future.

A bioassay-guided fractionation of the allelochemicals of the ethyl acetate fraction extracted from Aglaia odorata led to isolation of a bisamide, odorine. The growth inhibitory effects of odorine and ethyl acetate fraction were studied for comparison on Echinochloa crus-galli. Odorine and ethyl acetate fraction of A. odorata could inhibit the germination and seedling growth of E. crus-galli, with ethyl acetate fraction being more potent. Thus, ethyl acetate fraction was selected for further experiment, E. crus-galli seeds were studied the effects of the ethyl acetate fraction from A. odorata leaves in wettable powder formulation on imbibition and α-amylase activity. It was found that treated seeds showed lower imbibition and α-amylase activity. The results of cytogenetic bioassay in Allium cepa roots showed that ethyl acetate fraction inhibited cell mitosis and induced mitotic abnormalities resulting from its action on chromatin organization and mitotic spindle in the exposed roots.

This experiment was conducted to determine the potential allelopathic effects of the aqueous extracts and dried leaf powder of Suregada multiflorum and to find the herbicidal effects of its granule on the weed species, barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) and slender amaranth (Amaranthus viridis), in various growth media (germination paper, sand, and soil). Observations in this study demonstrated that the potential and magnitude of their inhibitory effects varied among the plant parts. The leaves and branches possessed the strongest inhibition levels, followed by the bark. The aqueous extract from the leaves of S. multiflorum had a remarkably stronger inhibitory effect on the germination and growth of slender amaranth, compared with barnyardgrass; when applied at the concentration of 100 g L–1, it completely inhibited the germination and initial seedling growth of slender amaranth. In addition, all the treatments of the dried leaf powder had stronger inhibition effects than the aqueous extract. Interestingly, the inhibitory effects of the dried leaf granule of S. multiflorum were stronger than the effects of the dried leaf powder at equal rates. The degree of inhibitory effect of the S. multiflorum granule, applied in various growing media, can be classified in order of decreasing inhibition as germination paper = sand > clay soil. The present study indicates that the S. multiflorum granule product that was developed in this research has the potential to provide a powerful organic herbicide for controlling slender amaranth.

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the ethyl acetate extract of the Zanthoxylum limonella Alston fruits led to the isolation of a phenolic compound named xanthoxyline. The allelopathic effects of xanthoxyline were evaluated on Chinese amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.) and Barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv.) under laboratory conditions. At a concentration of 2500 μM, xanthoxyline completely inhibited seed germination and growth of Chinese amaranth, while this compound showed a significantly inhibitory effect on seed germination of Barnyardgrass by 43.59% and inhibited shoot and root length by 71.56% and 87.48%, respectively. To determine the mechanism through which xanthoxyline exerts its toxicity, the cytogenetic bioassay was conducted. Roots of Allium cepa L. (onion) were treated with a series of concentrations, ranging from 15.625 to 125 μM for 18 h. Cytogenetic studies of onion roots showed a decrease of the mitotic index in the exposed roots dependent on the concentration of xanthoxyline. Likewise, the mitotic phase index was altered in onion incubated with xanthoxyline. Analyses of the abbreviation types showed spindle disturbances at late prophase, sticky metaphase, c-mitosis, non-oriented chromosome at metaphase, sticky anaphase, delayed anaphase and diagonal at telophase for the onion roots exposed to xanthoxyline.

A methanolic extract in wettable powder from the leaves of Jasminum officinale f. var. grandiflorum (Linn.) Kob. (JWP) was inhibitory to germination and seedling growth of Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv. weeds. The inhibition percentages on E. crus-galli seed germination treated with 500 to 8,000 ppm for 7 days was about 0 to 70%, respectively, whereas shoot length was inhibited from 19.04 to 71.82% and root length was 76.31 to 100% inhibition, respectively. The imbibition and α-amylase activities in the treated E. crus-galli seeds were progressively depressed with increasing JWP concentrations. The obtained results suggest that JWP inhibited imbibition and α-amylase activity in E. crus-galli seeds during germination. Keywords: Allelopathy, α-amylase, Echinochloa crus-galli, Jasminum officinale, seed imbibition

Methanolic extracts prepared from dried leaves of Jasminum officinale f. var. grandiflorum (L.) Kob. (Spanish jasmine) inhibited seed germination and stunted both root and shoot length of the weeds Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv. and Phaseolus lathyroides L. The main active compound was isolated and determined by spectral data as a secoiridoid glucoside named oleuropein. In addition, a decrease in allelopathic efficacy appeared as the decomposition periods increased. The mitotic index in treated onion root tips decreased with increasing concentrations of the extracts and longer periods of treatment. Likewise, the mitotic phase index was altered in onion incubated with crude extract. Furthermore, crude extract produced mitotic abnormalities resulting from its action on chromatin organization and mitotic spindle.