The present work aimed to evaluate plant injury caused by residues in the soil of the formulated mixture of imazethapyr and imazapic to a nontolerant genotype of rice (IRGA 417) drilled at 371 and 705 d after herbicide application (DAA). Herbicide carryover reduced up to 55% of the grain yield of the IRGA 417 drilled at 371 DAA, and plant injury was still evident at 705 DAA but without grain yield reduction.

Greenhouse and laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of rye residues on germination and growth of three triazine-resistant weed species, barnyardgrass, willowherb, and horseweed. Soil containing rye roots was used to determine rye residue influence on seed germination. Willowherb and horseweed germination was inhibited up to 50% with the highest rate of rye, but there was no inhibition of barnyardgrass germination. Aqueous extracts of rye shoot tissue inhibited incubator germination of horseweed and willowherb, but did not significantly influence barnyardgrass germination. Although there were no germination differences between the susceptible and resistant biotypes, both were totally inhibited when a 5% w/v solution was used. Growth inhibition of the selected weeds was evaluated using rye root residues in soil. All combinations of biotypes, species, and rye seeding rates showed significant growth inhibition.

Glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine] toxicity to volunteer wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and large crabgrass [Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop. # DIGSA] was influenced more by carrier volume than application method. Glyphosate phytotoxicity increased when carrier volume was reduced with both application methods. When compared at equal carrier volumes, there was little difference in volunteer wheat or large crabgrass control when glyphosate was applied with a controlled droplet applicator or flat fan nozzles. Volunteer wheat and large crabgrass control with controlled droplet applicators was influenced by application factors. At a given carrier volume, application factors which yielded larger droplets generally resulted in superior vegetation control.

Pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF) refers to the transfer of genetic information (alleles) from one plant to another compatible plant. With the evolution of herbicide-resistant (HR) weeds, PMGF plays an important role in the transfer of resistance alleles from HR to susceptible weeds; however, little attention is given to this topic. The objective of this work was to review reproductive biology, PMGF studies, and interspecific hybridization, as well as potential for herbicide resistance alleles to transfer in the economically important broadleaf weeds including common lambsquarters, giant ragweed, horseweed, kochia, Palmer amaranth, and waterhemp. The PMGF studies involving these species reveal that transfer of herbicide resistance alleles routinely occurs under field conditions and is influenced by several factors, such as reproductive biology, environment, and production practices. Interspecific hybridization studies within Amaranthus and Ambrosia spp. show that herbicide resistance allele transfer is possible between species of the same genus but at relatively low levels. The widespread occurrence of HR weed populations and high genetic diversity is at least partly due to PMGF, particularly in dioecious species such as Palmer amaranth and waterhemp compared with monoecious species such as common lambsquarters and horseweed. Prolific pollen production in giant ragweed contributes to PMGF. Kochia, a wind-pollinated species can efficiently disseminate herbicide resistance alleles via both PMGF and tumbleweed seed dispersal, resulting in widespread occurrence of multiple HR kochia populations. The findings from this review verify that intra- and interspecific gene flow can occur and, even at a low rate, could contribute to the rapid spread of herbicide resistance alleles. More research is needed to determine the role of PMGF in transferring multiple herbicide resistance alleles at the landscape level.

When I began my foray into the field of biological control of weeds in 1971, the concept of deliberately using pathogens to control weeds was novel and untested and met with skepticism and resistance. Soon, a worldwide network of plant pathologists, weed scientists, microbial technologists, formulation specialists, and regulatory personnel came together to study, develop, and apply pathogens in safe and effective ways of control of a variety of weeds in crops and natural areas. Several new weed–pathogen systems were studied; a few dozen products and pathogens were brought to use, albeit on a very small scale compared to conventional weed-control products; and along the way, some valuable lessons were learned in phytopathology and weed ecology. A seminal body of information was published on the etiology and epidemiology of several diseases of weeds, many new pathogens were discovered and described, and methods were developed for mass production, formulation, and storage of pathogens. Numerous pathogen-produced herbicidal metabolites were discovered and characterized. Protocols were developed, tested, and applied for safe importation and release of exotic pathogens and for registration of microbial herbicides. Spectacular success was achieved with some pathogens used as classical biocontrol agents, and a new class of herbicide, the bioherbicides, came on the scene. Yet some key opportunities were missed. Notably, weed biocontrol research remained largely preoccupied with agent or product development and deployment while great strides were made during this period in phytopathology to understand the genetic–molecular basis of virulence, host range, host specificity, host response to infection, cell death, and pathogen population structure. Nevertheless, the accomplishments in the field of weed biocontrol by pathogens are truly significant. Certainly, we are poised to apply the knowledge gained toward discovery and development of additional weed-control pathogens, but increased effort should be directed also at using pathogen genes, gene products, and genetic mechanisms for weed control. An investment in the latter could help us gain insights into genetically programmed host–pathogen interactions that may be exploited to kill weeds, restrain weed growth, or knock out traits for invasiveness. In our continuing struggle to manage weeds, biocontrol with pathogens should remain a major thrust. Here I present perceptions I have gained from the work that my students, postdoctoral and technical associates, colleagues, and I have done with several weed–pathogen systems.

Field experiments were conducted at the Lacombe Research Station from 1989 to 1991 to determine the influence of various adjuvants on sethoxydim activity. In all experiments sethoxydim was applied at 100 g ai ha-1 to green foxtail, wheat, wild oat, and barley seeded in a canola crop. Of the four grass species, green foxtail was the most susceptible and barley was the least susceptible to sethoxydim. CC 16255 was the most effective adjuvant followed by either of two sources of ammonium sulphate (liquid or granular) and then Merge. Liquid and granular forms of ammonium sulphate were equally effective in enhancing sethoxydim activity. Several other adjuvants, including Enhance, Savol, and XE 1167, were moderately effective in the enhancement of sethoxydim activity. Adding Canplus 411 to Merge was not usually beneficial, but additions of Canplus 411 to Enhance often increased sethoxydim activity compared with sethoxydim and Enhance alone. Agral 90 and LI-700 were of little or no value as adjuvants with sethoxydim.

A study was conducted in 2005 and 2006 to evaluate the response of 10 rice cultivars to penoxsulam applied at 70 g ai/ha to two- to three-leaf rice. A related study was conducted in 2004 and 2005 to compare the rice response to applications of penoxsulam at 35 and 70 g/ha and bispyribac-sodium at 28 g ai/ha. In the first study, all 10 rice cultivars exhibited tolerance to penoxsulam as evidenced by plant height, number of days to 50% heading, and rice grain yield. In the second study, applications of both rates of penoxsulam and bispyribac-sodium reduced mass of rice roots 65 to 71% 2 wk after treatment compared with a nontreated control. However, rice grain yield was higher following application of penoxsulam at 70 g/ha compared with yield of the nontreated control or yield following penoxsulam at 35 g/ha and bispyribac-sodium. Rice recovered from injury observed following herbicide application with no negative impact on grain yield. Results indicate that, even though rice root injury can be severe following application, penoxsulam is safe for application to rice cultivars currently grown in the southern U.S. Rice Belt.

Two corn hybrids were evaluated to determine tolerance to foramsulfuron applications with and without the safener, isoxadifen-ethyl at five application timings. The corn hybrid N58D1 was more sensitive to foramsulfuron applications than N59Q9. Averaged across all application timings, the addition of isoxadifen-ethyl decreased corn injury of the more sensitive corn hybrid, N58D1. Foramsulfuron application timing had a significant effect on corn tolerance. The greatest corn injury generally occurred from foramsulfuron applications to V6 and V8 corn (visible collars). Foramsulfuron injury ranged between 9 and 37% from these two application timings, 7 d after treatment (DAT). By 21 DAT, corn generally recovered from foramsulfuron injury, and there were a few cases of reduced corn yield at the end of the season. Yield reductions and ear malformations were greatest at the Urbana location with both hybrids when foramsulfuron was applied to V12 corn. The addition of isoxadifen-ethyl alleviated ear malformations and increased corn yield from this application timing. Applications of foramsulfuron before V6 corn also were important in reducing corn injury and protecting yield. Therefore, when growers are using foramsulfuron for weed control, it will be important to select proper hybrids that are more tolerant as well as making applications before V6 corn.

Horseweed is a major weed in conservation tillage production systems. Herbicides were evaluated for horseweed control at two growth stages, rosette and 10- to 15-cm tall. Horseweed was controlled at the rosette stage with the 2,4-D ester, 2,4-D amine, dicamba, 2,4-D plus glyphosate, and glyphosate. Higher rates were needed for control at the 10- to 15-cm stage. Paraquat did not effectively control horseweed at any stage.

Addition series field experiments were conducted near Moscow, ID, in 1987 and 1988 to determine the relative aggressiveness of spring barley and wild oat and to determine the effect of barley and wild oat density and proportion on barley grain yield and wild oat seed rain. Regression analysis was used to describe the relationship of the aboveground biomass and grain yield to species density. Barley was more aggressive than wild oat. Barley biomass was affected most by intraspecific competition, while wild oat biomass was affected most by interspecific competition. Barley aggressiveness changed little throughout the growing season. Wild oat aggressiveness varied but was always less than barley aggressiveness. Increasing wild oat density had a negative, asymptotic-type effect on barley grain yield at all barley densities. However, the effect of wild oat was greatest at the lower density of barley. Increasing barley density decreased wild oat seed rain.

Field experiments conducted at three locations in Georgia during 1991 and 1992 evaluated AC 263,222 and imazethapyr rates alone at 18, 36, 54, or 72 g ai/ha and in mixture for a total of 36, 54, or 72 g/ha of herbicide applied early-POST for weed control, peanut injury, and yield. An application of AC 263,222 at 72 g/ha controlled (> 90%) Ipomoea morningglories, sicklepod, smallflower morningglory, and yellow nutsedge in all experiments and coffee senna and Florida beggarweed at Chula in 1991. Bristly starbur was controlled at least 90% with AC 263,222 at 72 g/ha at Tifton in 1991, but less than 62% at Chula in 1991. Imazethapyr applied at 72 g/ha controlled coffee senna, Ipomoea morningglories, and smallflower morningglory at least 85%, but did not control Florida beggarweed or sicklepod and provided inconsistent bristly starbur and yellow nutsedge control. Bristly starbur and yellow nutsedge control was increased with several AC 263,222 plus imazethapyr mixtures. High peanut yields comparable to the standard were indicative of the AC 263,222 rate applied whether alone or in mixture with imazethapyr.

Buried feral rye seeds were rapidly depleted in soil in the first year due to in situ germination. Less than 1% of the viable seeds persisted after 45 mo of burial. Although after 5 yr, a small number of seedlings still emerged, soil seedbank decline was rapid when seed production was prevented. A low level of induced dormancy was detected and may explain the small populations of feral rye that persisted. Seed and seedling population shifts were large over a 5-yr period and were related to environmental conditions. Tillage or chemical control of feral rye in the fallow period reduced populations compared to the untreated weedy check. Moldboard plowing provided the greatest feral rye control compared to shallow tillage and chemical fallow. Feral rye seedbank populations rebounded following a wet final year of the study. These results help explain feral rye persistence in a wheat–fallow agroecosystem by the persistence of a small portion of the seedbank and by large seed inputs into the system during environmentally favorable years. Feral rye reduced wheat yield as much as 92% and represented up to 73% contamination in harvested wheat.

Florpyrauxifen-benzyl is a new herbicide under development in rice that will provide an alternative mode of action to control barnyardgrass. Multiple greenhouse experiments evaluated florpyrauxifen-benzyl efficacy on barnyardgrass accessions collected in rice fields across Arkansas, and to evaluate its efficacy on herbicide-resistant biotypes. In one experiment, florpyrauxifen-benzyl was applied at the labeled rate of 30 g ai ha−1 to 152 barnyardgrass accessions collected from 21 Arkansas counties. Florpyrauxifen-benzyl at 30 g ai ha−1 effectively controlled barnyardgrass and subsequently reduced plant height and aboveground biomass. In a dose-response experiment, susceptible-, acetolactate synthase (ALS)-, propanil-, and quinclorac-resistant barnyardgrass biotypes were subjected to nine rates of florpyrauxifen-benzyl ranging from 0 to 120 g ai ha−1. The effective dose required to provide 90% control, plant height reduction, and biomass reduction of the susceptible and resistant biotypes fell below the anticipated labeled rate of 30 g ai ha−1. Based on these results, quinclorac-resistant barnyardgrass as well as other resistant biotypes can be controlled with florpyrauxifen-benzyl at 30 g ai ha−1. Overall, results from these studies indicate that florpyrauxifen-benzyl can be an effective tool for controlling susceptible and currently existing herbicide-resistant barnyardgrass biotypes in rice. Additionally, the unique auxin chemistry of florpyrauxifen-benzyl will introduce an alternative mechanism of action in rice weed control thus acting as an herbicide-resistance management tool.

A field survey was conducted in 2007 to characterize weed populations in different turfgrass sites throughout the Klang Valley of western Peninsular Malaysia. Sites included golf course putting greens, athletic fields, sod farms, and residential lawns. Weeds present in each site were identified and the data were used to calculate frequency, distribution uniformity, density, relative abundance, and community coefficient values for each species. Seventy-nine weed species, belonging to 16 families, were found. The most species were found on residential lawns, and the fewest were found on golf course putting greens; athletic fields and sod farms ranked intermediately. A total of 19 different weed species were classified as major (relative abundance ≥ 15), and abundance rankings varied by turfgrass area. Greater kyllinga had the highest relative abundance values on athletic fields (45.5) and golf course putting greens (71.5), and the second highest value (21.7) on residential lawns. Forked fringerush and annual sedge had the greatest relative abundance values on residential lawns and sod farms, respectively. Cogongrass was reported on 15% of the residential lawns evaluated. The heterogeneity of weed species composition suggests that control strategies will vary by turfgrass use area. Quantifying weed population dynamics will help researchers delineate integrated weed management strategies to turfgrass managers in Malaysia.

The potential for use of compounds isolated from diverse sources, ranging from microbial to higher plants, has received increasing attention. These natural products represent a vast array of chemistries and mechanisms of action often having the requisite specificities to be ideal herbicides. Tentoxin, a cyclic tetrapeptide, has potent chlorosis activity on a variety of weeds of soybean and corn while not affecting these crops. Investigations into this toxin's mechanism suggest several enzyme target sites for the development of herbicidal analogues, each having the inherent specificity of the parent compound. Structure/activity relationships determined so far may permit a directed synthesis of efficacious analogues. New insights into biosynthesis of the toxin suggest possible means of increasing production to allow economical exploitation of the toxin itself as a herbicide.

Common purslane becomes quite permanently established where they are once introduced and will doubtless become weeds wherever they escape from cultivation.—William Darlington (1859)

Field experiments were conducted near Scottsbluff, NE, in 2001 and 2002 to compare economic aspects of glyphosate applied to different glyphosate-resistant sugar beet cultivars with that of conventional herbicide programs applied to near-equivalent, non–glyphosate-resistant conventional cultivars. Glyphosate applied two or three times at 2-wk intervals, beginning when weeds were 10 cm tall, provided excellent weed control, yield, and net economic return regardless of the glyphosate-resistant sugar beet cultivar. All conventional herbicide treatments resulted in similar net economic returns. Although the conventional sugar beet cultivars ‘HM 1640’ and ‘Beta 4546’ responded similarly to herbicide treatments with respect to sucrose content, ‘Beta 4546RR’ produced roots with 1% more sucrose than ‘HM 1640RR’. When averaged over herbicide treatments, a producer planting Beta 4546RR could afford to pay US $185/ha more for glyphosate-resistant technology as could a producer planting HM 1640RR. When averaged over cultivars and herbicide treatments, it is estimated that a producer could afford to pay an additional US $385/ha for glyphosate-resistant technology without decreasing net return.

Field experiments were conducted in 2002 and 2003 in Beaumont, TX, to evaluate the effect of flood timing on red rice control with imazethapyr applied at different cultivated rice growth stages. Treatments included flood establishment at 1, 7, 14, and 21 d after postemergence (POST) herbicide treatment (DAT). Imazethapyr was applied preemergence at 70 g ai/ha followed by 70 g/ ha POST when imidazolinone-tolerant rice cultivar ‘CL-161’ had three- to four-leaf stage (EPOST) or five-leaf stage (LPOST). Flood needed to be established within 14 DAT to achieve at least 95% red rice control when imazethapyr was applied EPOST. However, flood needed to be established within 7 DAT to provide at least 95% red rice control when imazethapyr was applied LPOST. Delaying the flood up to 21 DAT reduced rice grain yield for both application timings.

A state-level survey was conducted across major row-crop production regions of Texas to document the level of sensitivity of Palmer amaranth to glyphosate, atrazine, pyrithiobac, tembotrione, fomesafen, and dicamba. Between 137 and 161 Palmer amaranth populations were evaluated for sensitivity to the labelled field rate (1X), and rated as resistant (≤49% injury), less sensitive (50% to 89% injury), or susceptible (90% to 100% injury). For glyphosate, 62%, 19%, 13%, and 13% of the populations from the High Plains, Central Texas, Rio Grande Valley, and Lower Gulf Coast, respectively, were resistant. Resistance to atrazine was more common in Palmer amaranth populations from the High Plains than in other regions, with 16% of the populations resistant and 22% less sensitive. Approximately 90% of the populations from the High Plains that exhibited resistance to atrazine POST also were resistant to atrazine PRE. Of the 160 populations tested for pyrithiobac, approximately 99% were resistant or less sensitive, regardless of the region. No resistance was found to fomesafen, tembotrione, or dicamba. However, 22% of the populations from the High Plains were less sensitive to 1X (93 g ai ha−1) tembotrione, but were killed at 2X, illustrating the background variability in sensitivity to this herbicide. For dicamba, three populations, all from the High Plains, exhibited less sensitivity at the 1X rate (controlled at the 2X rate; 1X = 560 g ae ha−1). One population exhibited multiple resistance to three herbicides with distinct sites of action (SOAs) involving acetolactate synthase, 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase, and photosystem II inhibitors. Palmer amaranth populations exhibited less sensitivity to approximately 15 combinations of herbicides involving up to five SOAs. Dose-response assays conducted on the populations most resistant to glyphosate, pyrithiobac, or atrazine indicated they were 30-, 32-, or 49-fold or more resistant to these herbicides, respectively, compared with a susceptible standard.

Knowing when weed species are likely to emerge can aid in developing effective integrated weed management programs. When using nonresidual herbicides such as glyphosate for weed control, treatment timing is critical. This study characterized the emergence patterns of common lambsquarters, common sunflower, common waterhemp, eastern black nightshade, ivyleaf morningglory, shattercane, and woolly cupgrass in soybean, in relation to common glyphosate application timings. Approximately 90% or more of common lambsquarters, common sunflower, and common waterhemp seedlings emerged before the end of May, both in 2000 and 2001. Both ivyleaf morningglory and shattercane emerged from late April to mid-August, allowing these species to avoid glyphosate applications timed to prevent early-season weed competition. Avoidance through periodicity in emergence underscores the importance of integrating multiple tactics to ensure that difficult to manage weeds are not selected for in this management system.