A strategy of rapidly screening out herbicidal chemicals from Eucalyptus essential oils.

BACKGROUND: To enhance discovering efficiency of new herbicidal compounds, a strategy for rapidly screening out strongly herbicidal chemical components from natural resources is necessary. RESULTS: Seventeen essential oils selected from 14 Eucalyptus species and hybrids were evaluated for their herbicidal activities on annual ryegrass. A feasible strategy was established for rapidly pinpointing the chemicals contributing to strong herbicidal activities without the process of isolation and purification of individual compounds. This strategy was based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) coupled with principal component analysis (PCA) and verified by the bioassay results using several individual compounds. Two strong herbicidal compounds trans-pinocarveol and α-terpineol were screened out using the strategy. The strong herbicidal activity of trans-pinocarveol was discovered for the first time. CONCLUSION: The established strategy of screening herbicidal compounds from natural resources is simple, feasible and reliable. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

The accumulation, transformation, and effects of quinestrol in duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza L.).

Potential risk of endocrine disrupting compounds on non-target organisms has received extensive attentions in recent years. The present work aimed to investigate the behavior and effect of a synthetic steroid estrogen quinestrol in duckweed Spirodela polyrhiza L. Experimental results showed that quinestrol could be uptaken, accumulated, and biotransformed into 17 α-ethynylestradiol in S. polyrhiza L. The accumulation of quinestrol had a positive relation to the exposure concentration. The bioaccumulation rate was higher when the duckweed was exposed to quinestrol solutions at low concentrations than at high concentration. While the transformation of quinestrol showed no concentration-dependent manner. Quinestrol reduced the biomass and pigment content and increased superoxide dismutase and catalase activities and malondialdehyde contents in the duckweed. The results demonstrated that quinestrol could be accumulated and biotransformed in aquatic plant S. polyrhiza L. This work would provide supplemental data on the behavior of this steroid estrogen compound in aquatic system.

The mechanism of methylated seed oil on enhancing biological efficacy of topramezone on weeds.

Methylated seed oil (MSO) is a recommended adjuvant for the newly registered herbicide topramezone in China and also in other countries of the world, but the mechanism of MSO enhancing topramezone efficacy is still not clear. Greenhouse and laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the effects of MSO on efficacy, solution property, droplet spread and evaporation, active ingredient deposition, foliar absorption and translocation of topramezone applied to giant foxtail (Setaria faberi Herrm.) and velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti Medic.). Experimental results showed that 0.3% MSO enhanced the efficacy of topramezone by 1.5-fold on giant foxtail and by 1.0-fold on velvetleaf. When this herbicide was mixed with MSO, its solution surface tension and leaf contact angle decreased significantly, its spread areas on weed leaf surfaces increased significantly, its wetting time was shortened on giant foxtail but not changed on velvetleaf, and less of its active ingredient crystal was observed on the treated weed leaf surfaces. MSO increased the absorption of topramezone by 68.9% for giant foxtail and by 45.9% for velvetleaf 24 hours after treatment. It also apparently promoted the translocation of this herbicide in these two weeds.

Evaluation of the efficacy of glyphosate plus urea phosphate in the greenhouse and the field.

BACKGROUND: Glyphosate is a non-selective, foliar-applied, systemic herbicide that kills weeds by inhibiting the synthesis of 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase. Urea phosphate (UPP), made by the reaction of urea with phosphoric acid, was applied as an adjuvant for glyphosate in this study. Experiments in the greenhouse and the field were conducted to determine the effects of UPP by comparing the efficacies of glyphosate plus UPP, glyphosate plus 1-aminomethanamide dihydrogen tetraoxosulfate (AMADS) and Roundup. RESULTS: The optimum concentration of UPP in glyphosate solution was 2.0% when UPP was used as an adjuvant. The ED50 values for glyphosate-UPP were 291.7 and 462.4 g AI ha(-1) in the greenhouse and the field respectively, while the values for Roundup were 448.2 and 519.6 g AI ha(-1). The ED50 values at 2 weeks after treatment (WAT) and 3 WAT were lowered when UPP was used as an adjuvant in the greenhouse and field study, and the glyphosate+UPP was absorbed over a 2 week period. UPP may increase the efficacy by causing severe cuticle disruption or accelerating the initial herbicide absorption. The result also showed that UPP could reduce the binding behaviour of Ca2+ to glyphosate. CONCLUSION: The application of UPP as an adjuvant could increase the efficacy of glyphosate and make it possible to achieve effective control of weeds with glyphosate at lower dose. Moreover, UPP showed less causticity to spraying tools and presented less of a health hazard. Therefore, UPP is accepted as being a new, effective and environmentally benign adjuvant for glyphosate.