Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Frederick, Maryland » Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #391938
Research Project: Discovery and Development of Microbial-Based Biological Control Agents for Use Against Invasive Weeds in the United States

Location: Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research

Title: Microbes collected from invasive plants at the C&O Canal are potential weed management tools

Author
item Fulcher, Michael

Submitted to: Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/3/2022
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Invasive plants degrade natural resources and reduce the recreational quality of land maintained by NPS. Controlling invasive plants is especially difficult in areas where chemical herbicides are undesirable or mechanical removal is impractical. Biological control of invasive plants using microbes (fungi, bacteria and viruses) can be a sustainable approach to weed management in sensitive environments. Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are collecting microbes from plants at the C&O Canal in order to evaluate their safety and potential efficacy as weed biological control agents. Over 100 microbes were recovered from invasive plants in 2021, including a fungus not previously recorded in the United States that significantly reduces the growth of invasive perilla mint. The possible use of this plant pathogen as a biological control agent highlights the value of microbial diversity found on NPS managed land.