Article Sidebar
Published:
Apr 14, 2025Keywords:
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Open access articles published in the Journal of Agriculture, Science and Technology are under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The CC BY license permits commercial and non-commercial re-use of an open-access article, as long as the author is properly attributed.
Copyright on any research article published in the Journal of Agriculture, Science and Technology is retained by the author(s). The authors grant the Journal of Agriculture, Science and Technology with a license to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher. Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its original authors, citation details and publisher are identified.
Use of the article in whole or in part in any medium requires proper citation as follows:
Title of Article, Names of the Author, Year of Publication, Journal Title, Volume (Issue) and page. Links to the final article on the JSRE website are encouraged.
The Creative Commons Attribution License does not affect any other rights held by authors or third parties in the article, including without limitation the rights of privacy and publicity. Use of the article must not assert or imply, whether implicitly or explicitly, any connection with, endorsement or sponsorship of such use by the author, publisher or any other party associated with the article.
For any reuse or distribution, users must include the copyright notice and make clear to others that the article is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution license, linking to the relevant Creative Commons web page. Users may impose no restrictions on the use of the article other than those imposed by the Creative Commons Attribution license.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the article is made available as is and without representation or warranties of any kind whether express, implied, statutory or otherwise and including, without limitation, warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, absence of defects, accuracy, or the presence or absence of errors.
Main Article Content
Germination response of Striga hermonthica ecotypes from Western Kenya upon exposure to maize root exudates
Elvin Elizabeth Mulaa
Abstract
Striga hermonthica, commonly known as witchweed or ‘cereal killer', is a root hemiparasite of cereals, germinating only in response to host-induced molecules, strigolactones (SL). It continues to pose a serious threat to maize production in western Kenya, resulting in up to 100% crop failure. Percent germination of Striga is an important indicator of the virulence level of the parasite as it translates to high attachment to the host roots and varies based on the SL profile. However, specificity of Striga ecotypes when exposed to germination stimulants from host root exudates of differential testers of maize is unknown, hindering deployment of effective management strategies. The study sought to establish variations in virulence among Striga ecotypes based on crude root exudate-induced germination. We hypothesized no variation in germination responses among the Striga ecotypes. In vitro germination assays were used to determine differences in virulence among 5 Striga ecotypes collected from maize, sorghum, and finger millet fields in western Kenya using crude root exudates from two maize genotypes, WH403 (susceptible) and KSTP94 (resistant). Striga germination data was recorded by counting Striga seeds with a protruding radicle. All Striga ecotypes germinated in response to root exudates of KSTP94 and WH403. However, variations were observed among the ecotypes, (P < 0.05) with Alomodoi sorghum ecotype recording the highest germination in exudates of WH403 (81.9%). Bunyala sorghum ecotype recorded the lowest germination as induced by the genotypes WH403 (35%), and KSTP94 (37%). The two maize genotypes varied in their ability to induce Striga ecotype germination (P < 0.05). Results suggest that the virulence of Striga ecotypes could be genotypespecific. These novel outcomes necessitate using Striga germination response rate as a virulence factor in Striga virulence assays and the development of region-specific resistant genotypes. We recommend further analysis of the crude root exudates to ascertain the active compounds as well as genomic analysis of the Striga ecotypes.
