Weed Research (2014) 54, 217-222

A. Shabbir, K. Dhileepan, N. Khan and S.W. Adkins (2014)
Weed-pathogen interactions and elevated CO₂: growth changes in favour of the biological control agent
Weed Research 54 (3), 217-222
Abstract: In this study, we used Parthenium hysterophorus and one of its biological control agents, the winter rust (Puccinia abrupta var. partheniicola) as a model system to investigate how the weed may respond to infection under a climate change scenario involving an elevated atmospheric CO₂ (550 μmol mol⁻¹) concentration. Under such a scenario, P. hysterophorus plants grew significantly taller (52%) and produced more biomass (55%) than under the ambient atmospheric CO₂ concentration (380 μmol mol⁻¹). Following winter rust infection, biomass production was reduced by 17% under the ambient and by 30% under the elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration. The production of branches and leaf area was significantly increased by 62% and 120%, under the elevated as compared with ambient CO₂ concentration, but unaffected by rust infection under either condition. The photosynthesis and water use efficiency (WUE) of P. hysterophorus plants were increased by 94% and 400%, under the elevated as compared with the ambient atmospheric CO₂ concentration. However, in the rust-infected plants, the photosynthesis and WUE decreased by 18% and 28%, respectively, under the elevated CO₂ and were unaffected by the ambient atmospheric CO₂ concentration. The results suggest that although P. hysterophorus will benefit from a future climate involving an elevation of the atmospheric CO₂ concentration, it is also likely that the winter rust will perform more effectively as a biological control agent under these same conditions.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Asad Shabbir, Stephen W. Adkins, Kunjithapatham Dhileepan, Naeem Khan

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
environment/habitat manipulation
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Parthenium hysterophorus (weed)
Puccinia abrupta (weed pathogen)	Parthenium hysterophorus (weed)