Evaluation of allelopathic activity of 178 Caucasian plant species

Abstract

Seeking for new plant species as the main resources of bioactive chemicals is one of the fundamental steps in biological production science. The main objective of this paper was to screen for the allelopathic activity of Caucasian plant species in order to select the strongest allelopathic species for future studies. Dried leaves of 178 plant species collected from the Teberda State Reserve in the Caucasus region were assayed by the Sandwich method for allelopathic activity, using Lactuca sativa (lettuce) as the test plant. To evaluate allelopathic activity, standard deviation (SD) and SD of variance (SDV) of radicle growth inhibition were calculated. The highest (100%) inhibition was observed for Artemisia austriaca Jacquin, followed by Oxalis acetosella L., Convallaria majalis L. and Polygonatum odoratum (Miller). Among plant families, members of the Fabaceae caused greatest inhibition of radicle growth. Plants classified as "poisonous" had the highest allelopathic activities, followed closely by those designated "medicinal". Results of this study will guide the identification of novel phytotoxic chemicals useful in medicinal and/or industrial applications.

Fast and Reproducible 96-Well Plate-Based Method for the Evaluation of the Antigerminative Potential of Plant Extracts and Phytotoxic Compounds

“…Moreover, L. sativa and R. sativus are known to be very sensitive to inhibition by allelochemicals. 15,21 In some instances, target monocotyledonous species, such as Triticum aestivum L. 17 or Avena sativa L., are also investigated. 19 There are four types of methods used in allelopathic studies, depending on the nature of the sample tested (plant, extract, or 19 to 10 mL 21 and a number of seeds from 10 20 and 30.…”

“…Methods have been developed that are aimed at identifying active compounds released from plants and evaluating their impact on the germination and growth of targeted plants. Most studies use the same dicotyledonous target plants: Lactuca sativa L., , L. sativum L., , or Raphanus sativus L.. , These are good model species with seeds large enough to be easily manipulated, short germination times (between 2 and 4 days), and homogeneous germination rates.…”

“…sativa and R. sativus are known to be very sensitive to inhibition by allelochemicals. , In some instances, target monocotyledonous species, such as Triticum aestivum L . or Avena sativa L., are also investigated …”

Isophorone‐induced light‐independent lipid peroxidation and loss of cell membrane integrity

“…Medicinal plant extracts have relatively strong phytotoxicity (Fujii, Shibuya, & Yasuda, 1990). For these reasons, the isolation of phytotoxic compounds from medicinal plants has been widely conducted globally (Fujii, Parvez, Parvez, Ohmae, & Uda, 2003; Mardani, Kazantseva, Onipchenko, & Fujii, 2016; Sunohara, Baba, Matsuyama, Fujimura, & Matsumoto, 2015). The phytotoxic isoprenoid, 1,4‐cineole {1‐methyl‐4‐propan‐2‐yl‐7‐oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane}, isolated from Eucalyptus spp., serves as the lead for the development of the commercial herbicide cinmethylin {(1 S ,2 R ,4 R )‐1‐methyl‐2‐[(2‐methylphenyl)methoxy]‐4‐propan‐2‐yl‐7‐oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane} (Dayan, Romagni, & Duke, 2003), which inhibits a novel target enzyme, fatty acid thioesterase (Campe et al, 2018).…”

Sandwich method applied to the screening of allelopathic action in Byrsonima spp. (Malpighiaceae)

“…This method involves placement the plant material between two layers of agar, and it is an important tool to investigate the allelopathic potential under laboratory conditions. Agar is used, since it is a substance that allows a better translocation of water-soluble compounds to the test organism (Fujii et al 2003;Mardani et al 2016).…”