Junglerice has become a major weed in Tennessee cotton and soybean fields. Glyphosate has been relied on to control these accessions over the past two decades, but in recent years cotton and soybean producers have reported junglerice escapes after glyphosate + dicamba and/or clethodim applications. In the growing seasons of 2018 and 2019, a survey was conducted of weed escapes in dicamba-resistant (DR) crops. Junglerice was the most prevalent weed escape in these DR (Roundup Ready Xtend®) cotton and soybean fields in both years of the study. In 2018 and 2019, junglerice was found 76% and 64% of the time in DR cotton and soybean fields, respectively. Progeny from junglerice seeds collected during this survey was screened for glyphosate and clethodim resistance. Seventy percent of the junglerice accessions tested had an effective relative resistance factor to glyphosate of 3.1 to 8.5. In all, 13% of the junglerice accessions could no longer be effectively controlled with glyphosate. This research also showed that all sampled accessions could still be controlled with clethodim in a greenhouse environment, but less control was observed in the field. These data also suggest that another cause for the poor junglerice control is dicamba antagonism of glyphosate and clethodim activity.

Characterizing the whole genetic architecture of drought tolerance (DT) is a persistent challenge for the breeders. Here we developed a half-sib population comprising of 404 lines of two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations with M8206 as the joint parent (M8206 × TongShan and ZhengYang × M8206) and tested for its DT under sand culture. The population was sequenced using restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing filtered with minor allele frequency ≥0.01; 55,936 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were obtained and assembled into 6137 SNPLDBs (SNP linkage disequilibrium blocks). The restricted two-stage multi-locus genome-wide association analysis characterized with error and false-positive control identified 40 QTLs with 93 alleles on an average of 34.75% of the phenotypic variance (PV) collectively for relative root length (RRL) and relative shoot length (RSL) that served as potential DT indicators. Among these, eight loci corresponded to previously reported QTLs, whereas 32 loci were therefore novel. The identified QTLs with their corresponding alleles for RRL and RSL were organized into QTL-allele matrices, depicting the comprehensive DT genetic architecture of the three parents/half-sib population. From the matrices, we predicted the possible best/optimal genotype with weighted average value (WAV) 1.553 over two indicators, while for the top 10 single crosses among RILs with 95th percentile WAV was 1.218–1.257, transgressive over the parents (0.693–0.794) yet much less than 1.553. From the detected QTL-allele system, 65 potential candidate genes collectively for both indicators explaining on an average of 24.41% PV were annotated and χ2-tested as a DT candidate gene system involving nine biological processes.

Two field experiments were carried out from 1993 to 1995 to evaluate the critical period of weed control and to develop suitable weed management practices for jungle rice, horse purslane, and cockscomb in soybean. Horse purslane was more competitive during early growth stages (up to 45 days after sowing [DAS]) and cockscomb was more competitive during later growth stages, whereas jungle rice was competitive throughout the growing season. The critical period of weed control was found to be 30 to 45 DAS. Weed-free maintenance up to 45 DAS resulted in a 74% increase in grain yield of soybean over the unweeded control. Keeping soybean weed free for 45 d or allowing weeds to remain in the crop for less than 30 d resulted in no significant yield loss. Sequential application of a reduced rate of soil-applied trifluralin 1.0 kg ha–1 (0.67 ×) with postemergence fluazifop 0.75 kg ha–1 (0.75 ×) or a reduced rate of soil-applied trifluralin or pendimethalin at 1.0 kg ha–1 (0.67 ×) followed by hand hoeing 35 DAS provided better control of a broad spectrum of weeds than a single application of a postemergence herbicide applied at reduced or recommended rates. Integration of reduced rates of soil-applied herbicides with post-emergence herbicides or hand hoeing 35 DAS produced soybean yields similar to the hand-weeded treatment. Compared to the weed-free or integrated weed control, a single application of soil-applied or postemergence herbicide did not control a broad spectrum of weeds and reduced soybean yield.

Crop and weed competition studies rarely determine how plant-to-plant interactions alter the structure and physiology of crop roots. Soybean has the ability to detect neighboring weeds and to alter growth patterns including the allocation of resources to root growth. In this study, we hypothesized that low red : far red light ratio (R : FR) reflected from aboveground vegetative tissue of neighboring weeds would alter soybean root morphology and reduce root biomass and nodule number. All experiments were conducted under controlled conditions in which resources of light, water, and nutrients were nonlimiting. Low R : FR reflected from aboveground neighboring weeds reduced soybean seedling root length, surface area, and volume, including the number of nodules per plant. An accumulation of H2O2, an increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) content, a reduction in flavonoid content, and a decrease in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)–radicle scavenging activity were observed. The reduction in flavonoid content was accompanied by a decrease in the transcription of GmIFS and GmN93 and an increase in transcript levels of several antioxidant genes. These molecular and physiological changes may have a physiological cost to the soybean plant, which may limit the plant's ability to respond to subsequent abiotic and biotic stresses that will occur under field conditions.

The objective of this study was to evaluate weed control, crop yields, potential soil loss, and net returns to management of an integrated weed management system in no-till corn and soybean compared to an herbicide-based strategy. The integrated weed management system reduced herbicide inputs by delayed cover crop termination, herbicide banding, and high-residue cultivation (reduced herbicide [RH]), while the other system used continuous no-tillage and herbicides to control weeds (standard herbicide [SH]). Research was conducted within the Penn State Sustainable Dairy Cropping Systems Experiment, where corn and soybean are each planted once in a 6-yr crop rotation. In this 3-yr study, weed density and biomass were often greater under RH management, but weed biomass never exceeded 19 g m–2 in corn and 21 g m–2 in soybean. Corn yield and population did not differ in any year, and net returns to management were $33.65 ha–1 higher in RH corn due to lower herbicide costs and slightly, though not significantly, higher yields. Soybean yield was lower in RH compared to SH in 2 of 3 yr, and was correlated with soybean population and cover crop residue. Net financial returns were $43.69 ha–1 higher in SH soybean compared to RH. Predicted soil loss never exceeded T (maximum allowable soil loss) for any treatment and slope combination, though soil loss was 100% greater on a 10% slope under RH management (vs. SH) due to cultivation.