Researchers find that some weeds get supercharged by an indirect hit of herbicide
A brush with low doses of the herbicide dicamba spurs oxalis, a weed commonly known as wood sorrel, to produce more flowers, University of Michigan researchers have discovered.
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- Em foco: A brush with low doses of the herbicide dicamba spurs oxalis, a weed commonly known as wood sorrel, to produce more flowers, University of Michigan
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A brush with low doses of the herbicide dicamba spurs oxalis, a weed commonly known as wood sorrel, to produce more flowers, University of Michigan researchers have discovered. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies.
Scientists first noted this phenomenon in the early 1900s, when botanists found that stress from low concentrations of toxic substances such as copper and zinc could boost growth in plants, algae and fungi. German scientists first called this a "stimulation effect," and later it became known as "hormesis. " To study this trend in oxalis, the researchers, led by recent U-M graduate Anah Botran, planted a field with oxalis and exposed half of the field to low levels of dicamba.
Botran, a graduate student, along with undergraduate students Olive Tatara, Elise Kanefsky and Betania Cornejo, measured the plants' growth, flower number, seed number and other measures of plant health. The first year, the plants produced more flowers in the treated half of the plot compared to the control.
The researchers also saw some evidence that the plants hit by dicamba produced more seeds in the first year. Botran and the team of undergraduates observed pollinator visits to the plants and found that plants exposed to dicamba, those with more flowers, had lower pollinator visitor rates.
Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100, 000 subscribers who rely on Phys. org for daily insights. What I think is scientifically interesting about this is that folks in both weed science and ecotoxicology have been interested in hormesis, and have been interested in whether this overproduction is heritable," she said.
We put this question in a framework where you could examine the potential that this trait will evolve. " Anah Soble Botran et al, Hormesis without evolution: plastic compensatory responses to herbicide drift in Oxalis stricta, a common weed of agriculture, New Phytologist (2026).
Fonte original: Phys. org Biology