The Effect of Orobanche crenata Infection Severity in Faba Bean, Field Pea, and Grass Pea Productivity

Abstract

Broomrape weeds (Orobanche and Phelipanche spp.) are root holoparasites that feed off a wide range of important crops. Among them, Orobanche crenata attacks legumes complicating their inclusion in cropping systems along the Mediterranean area and West Asia. The detrimental effect of broomrape parasitism in crop yield can reach up to 100% depending on infection severity and the broomrape-crop association. This work provides field data of the consequences of O. crenata infection severity in three legume crops, i.e., faba bean, field pea, and grass pea. Regression functions modeled productivity losses and revealed trends in dry matter allocation in relation to infection severity. The host species differentially limits parasitic sink strength indicating different levels of broomrape tolerance at equivalent infection severities. Reductions in host aboveground biomass were observed starting at low infection severity and half maximal inhibitory performance was predicted as 4.5, 8.2, and 1.5 parasites per faba bean, field pea, and grass pea plant, respectively. Reductions in host biomass occurred in both vegetative and reproductive organs, the latter resulting more affected. The increase of resources allocated within the parasite was concomitant to reduction of host seed yield indicating that parasite growth and host reproduction compete directly for resources within a host plant. However, the parasitic sink activity does not fully explain the total host biomass reduction because combined biomass of host–parasite complex was lower than the biomass of uninfected plants. In grass pea, the seed yield was negligible at severities higher than four parasites per plant. In contrast, faba bean and field pea sustained low but significant seed production at the highest infection severity. Data on seed yield and seed number indicated that the sensitivity of field pea to O. crenata limited the production of grain yield by reducing seed number but maintaining seed size. In contrast, the size of individual parasites was not genetically determined but dependent on the host species and resource availability as a consequence of competition between parasites at increasing infection severities.

Relationship between the Ni hyperaccumulator Alyssum murale and the parasitic plant Orobanche nowackiana from serpentines in Albania

“…For instance, several Orobanche and Phelipanche species parasitize important crops and are of major importance in Europe, where about 70% of farm land is infected with seeds of broomrapes (Gevezova et al 2012). The effects of Orobanche infection on the growth and mineral composition of the host have been studied in parallel observations of host and parasite (Singh et al 1971;Barker et al 1996;Labrousse et al 2010;Ferna´ndez-Aparicio et al 2016). In all cases, reduction in host biomass was mentioned for both vegetative and reproductive organs.…”

Metabolic Investigation of Phelipanche aegyptiaca Reveals Significant Changes during Developmental Stages and in Its Different Organs

“…Due to their achlorophyllous nature, they are constrained to obtain their nutritional resources by feeding off broad-leaf plants using the haustorium, a unique organ in parasitic plants that links the parasite to the root of the hosts. Through the haustorium, the parasite diverts water, and nutrients from the host (Westwood, 2013), leading to severe yield loss, and quality in numerous vegetables crops (Joel et al, 2007; Pérez-de Luquea et al, 2010; Fernández-Aparicio et al, 2016). It was suggested that once the connection between the parasite and the host roots is established, the parasite functions as an active sink, redirecting solutes away from autotrophic sink tissues and subsequently leading to a decrease in the accumulation of host biomass (Péron et al, 2016).…”

Gibberellic and kaurenoic hybrid strigolactone mimics for seed germination of parasitic weeds

“…As expected, compounds not containing the butenolide ring (1 and 7) were not active, including that with the open butenolide (8). (2), grandiflorenic acid (3) and derivatives (9,(13)(14)(15) The addition of the butenolide ring to kaurenoic acid (2) in compounds 9 and 15 led to active compounds in all tested species except O. crenata. The highest activity was found on both Phelipanche spp.…”

“…Broomrapes ( Orobanche and Phelipanche species) and witchweeds ( Striga species) are noxious weeds that are difficult to control in Europe, Africa and Asia . These weeds are root parasites that cause significant yield losses in crops by direct withdrawal of nutritive resources through vascular connections . Each parasitic plant produces massive numbers of seeds with long embryo longevity and easy dispersal, which in turn leads to resilient parasitic seedbanks whose eradication is a challenging agricultural problem .…”