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The factors affecting a native obligate parasite, Cuscuta australis, in selecting an exotic weed, Humulus scandens, as its host

Wu, Ai Ping LU ; Zhong, Wen ; Yuan, Jin Rui ; Qi, Liang Yu ; Chen, Fa Lin ; Liang, Yun Shan ; He, Fei Fei and Wang, Yan Hong (2019) In Scientific Reports 9(1).
Abstract

In weed management, using native parasites to control exotic weeds is considered a better alternative than classical biological control. But the risk must be assessed because of the potential damage caused by these agents. We conducted this project to investigate the mechanism driving the choice of a native obligate parasite, Cuscuta australis, between the exotic, Humulus scandens, and native plants as its host through field and pot experiments. The results showed that C. australis preferred the exotic weed over native (naturalized) hosts and caused a notable reduction in the biomass of H. scandens in the field. In contrast, the results of the pot experimentindicated that C. australis preferred a mix of native (naturalized) hosts over... (More)

In weed management, using native parasites to control exotic weeds is considered a better alternative than classical biological control. But the risk must be assessed because of the potential damage caused by these agents. We conducted this project to investigate the mechanism driving the choice of a native obligate parasite, Cuscuta australis, between the exotic, Humulus scandens, and native plants as its host through field and pot experiments. The results showed that C. australis preferred the exotic weed over native (naturalized) hosts and caused a notable reduction in the biomass of H. scandens in the field. In contrast, the results of the pot experimentindicated that C. australis preferred a mix of native (naturalized) hosts over the exotic weed. Both texperiments indicated that the parasitic preference of C. australis was induced more by light irradiance than plant water, carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents, indicating that the native parasite can only be used to control H. scandens when the exotic weed forms mono-cultures or dominates the community. Accordingly, induction and release of C. australis to control H. scandens should be conducted with great caution.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
9
issue
1
article number
511
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:30679591
  • scopus:85060544981
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-018-36997-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e819193c-70fc-459e-8213-3cf63fea6769
date added to LUP
2019-02-05 12:20:15
date last changed
2024-03-19 00:48:05
@article{e819193c-70fc-459e-8213-3cf63fea6769,
  abstract     = {{<p>In weed management, using native parasites to control exotic weeds is considered a better alternative than classical biological control. But the risk must be assessed because of the potential damage caused by these agents. We conducted this project to investigate the mechanism driving the choice of a native obligate parasite, Cuscuta australis, between the exotic, Humulus scandens, and native plants as its host through field and pot experiments. The results showed that C. australis preferred the exotic weed over native (naturalized) hosts and caused a notable reduction in the biomass of H. scandens in the field. In contrast, the results of the pot experimentindicated that C. australis preferred a mix of native (naturalized) hosts over the exotic weed. Both texperiments indicated that the parasitic preference of C. australis was induced more by light irradiance than plant water, carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents, indicating that the native parasite can only be used to control H. scandens when the exotic weed forms mono-cultures or dominates the community. Accordingly, induction and release of C. australis to control H. scandens should be conducted with great caution.</p>}},
  author       = {{Wu, Ai Ping and Zhong, Wen and Yuan, Jin Rui and Qi, Liang Yu and Chen, Fa Lin and Liang, Yun Shan and He, Fei Fei and Wang, Yan Hong}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{The factors affecting a native obligate parasite, Cuscuta australis, in selecting an exotic weed, Humulus scandens, as its host}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36997-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-018-36997-7}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}