• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.38-46
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• 2013

With increasing environmental issues from synthetic chemical herbicides, microbe-originated herbicides could be a fascinating alternative in current agriculture. We isolated Streptomyces strains that produced herbicidal active metabolite(s) against a grass weed Digitaria sanguinalis. According to the result from 16S rDNA sequence comparison with the close strains, the best isolate (Code name MS-80673) was identified as Streptomyces scopuliridis KR-001. The closest type strain was Streptomyces scopuliridis RB72 which was previously reported as a bacteriocin producer. The optimal culture condition of S. scopuliridis KR-001 was $28^{\circ}C$, pH 7.0 and culture period 4 to7 days. Both of soil and foliar application of the crude culture broth concentrate was effective on several troublesome or noxious weed species such as a Sciyos angulatus in a greenhouse and field condition. Phytotoxic symptoms of the culture broth concentrate of S. scopuliridis KR-001 by foliar application were wilting and burndown of leaves, and stems followed by discoloration and finally plant death. In crops such as rice, wheat, barley, hot pepper and tomato, growth inhibition was observed. These results suggest that the new S. scopuliridis KR-001 strain producing herbicidal metabolites may be a new bio-herbicide candidate and/or may provide a new lead molecule for a more efficient herbicide.