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Accepted manuscript

Evaluating Sorgoleone Herbicidal Activity on Weed Species and Wheat (Triticum aestivum)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2025

Manish K. Bansal
Affiliation:
Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Crop Science, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA
Thierry E. Besançon
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ, USA
Estefania G. Polli
Affiliation:
Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Crop Science, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA
James D. Burton
Affiliation:
Professor Emeritus, Department of Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA
Wesley J. Everman*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Wesley J. Everman; Email:weverman@iastate.edu
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Abstract

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Sorgoleone, an allelochemical exuded from root hairs of grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], has proven herbicidal activity on several weeds and crops. Due to its hydrophobic nature and affinity for organic matter, sorgoleone can persist in the soil for a long period. While beneficial for weed suppression, growers in the southeastern United States have raised concerns that sorghum residues may negatively affect wheat [Triticum aestivum L.] emergence in double-crop systems. Two independent laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate sorgoleone activity: (1) Weed Species/Wheat Variety Study, which included four weed species Italian ryegrass [Lolium perenne L. ssp. multiflorum (Lam.) Husnot], large crabgrass [Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.], sicklepod [Senna obtusifolia (L.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby], and velvetleaf [Abutilon theophrasti Medik.] and two wheat varieties, USG3251 and Shirley, and (2) Wheat Variety and Group Study, which included a total of 20 varieties distributed in four wheat group. In both studies, sorgoleone was applied at 0.025, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, and 0.30 g L-1 to seeds grown in petri dishes under laboratory conditions. In study (1), sorgoleone activity had a stronger effect on grass weeds than on broadleaf weeds. Lolium perenne ssp. multiflorum was the most susceptible weed, showing 77% growth reduction at 3 g L-1 of sorgoleone. At the same concentration, D. sanguinalis showed the second-highest response with a 32% growth reduction, followed by A. theophrasti and S. obtusifolia, with reductions of 23% and 20%, respectively. No effect of sorgoleone was observed on wheat varieties. In study (2), growth reduction was only observed for six wheat varieties at the highest sorgoleone concentrations. Furthermore, between groups, Hard Red wheat presented higher response to sorgoleone compared to the other groups. These findings demonstrate strong herbicidal activity of sorgoleone on grass weeds, particularly L. perenne ssp. multiflorum, while having minimal effects on most wheat varieties.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Weed Science Society of America