NewsThe field of biological control of weeds by using plant pathogens came of age in the late seventies and early eighties. Since that time, research and development of this field in the United States has been sustained and fostered mainly through the cooperative efforts of scientists affiliated with land grant universities, USDA-Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS), state departments of agriculture, industries, and growers. This Multistate Research Project (S-1001), sanctioned by the USDA-CSREES, follows its predecessors, Regional Research Project S-268, S-234, and S-136. Collectively these cooperative projects have served as the foundation for research and evaluation of nearly two dozens of pathogens as potential bioherbicides. These projects have also helped to develop epidemiological and risk-analysis models to understand the performance and safety of previously registered and commercialized bioherbicidal pathogens, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f. sp. aeschynomene (Collego®), used for the control of northern jointvetch (Aeschynomene virginica), and Phytophthora palmivora (DeVine®) used for the control of stranglervine (Morrenia odorata) in Florida, understand some aspects of the genetics of these fungi, and develop systems to integrate their use in rice and citrus production. This web page contains details of S-1001 as well as the previous projects.
Objectives, History, Background and Justification (Project Statement)
Project Statement in pdf format (File size: 278 kb). Get Adobe Acrobat Reader here.