Plant Allelopathy: Mechanisms and Applications in Regenerative Agriculture 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Allelopathy is defined as an inhibitory or beneficial chemical interaction between plants, plants and microorganisms and between microorganisms themselves. Functional molecules, named allelochemicals, belong to diverse chemical classes of plant and microbial secondary metabolites. Taking a holistic view, it is increasingly recognized that both plant and microbial secondary compounds contribute to allelopathy. Moreover, plants and microorganisms have functions in the detoxification and removal of harmful molecules and also potentiate their toxicity by compound modulation, thus ameliorating or reducing/eliminating allelopathic success. Allelochemicals must be released into the environment, a prerequisite for their uptake by another plant or their entering into contact with microorganisms. In these instances, several mechanisms are possible, both active and passive, encompassing the release of bound allelochemicals from decaying plant material due to microbial activity. Adsorbed at roots surfaces, allelochemicals can influence root-colonizing microorganisms, their interaction with the host plant, and the metabolism, growth and development of the host/target plant. While it has long been known that allelopathy is a strategy for plants to prevail against other plants, chemical interference between plants and microorganisms, as well as between plant- and soil-colonizing microorganisms, has more recently been investigated. These interactions are of crucial importance for the use of allelopathy for weed control in agriculture as green technologies will be favored in future culture systems. They will also launch a discussion about the breeding of novel crop cultivars with a higher allelopathic potential or of those with higher levels of tolerance towards allelopathic compounds. Here, co-evolutionary aspects must be considered since many weeds have already evolved strategies to cope with certain allelochemicals. At times, these strategies are supported by microorganisms, and allelochemicals often act in concert to ensure complete allelochemical degradation. Allelochemicals can severely influence microbial diversity, being an indirect tool to suppress plants by manipulating associated microbial communities/microbiome composition and species richness. This Special Issue will cover recent insights in the areas of plant and plant–microbe allelopathic interactions under laboratory and field conditions; agricultural methods for allelopathic weed control; tolerance strategies of plants and microorganisms against allelochemicals; and in allelochemical degradation, as the latter is important to fulfilling non-residue degradation in order to avoid environmental contaminations. Indeed, the avoidance of environmental damage is a quality criterion of green technologies towards a more sustainable agriculture and remains a key objective of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies of the EU Green New Deal Program.

Dr. Margot Schulz
Dr. Vincenzo Tabaglio
Guest Editors

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• allelochemical
• allelopathic interactions
• alternative weed control
• microorganisms
• secondary metabolite
• regenerative agriculture
• allelopathic cover crops
• allelopathy in agriculture
• allelopathy
• Farm2Fork strategy

• Plant Allelopathy: Mechanisms and Applications in Regenerative Agriculture in Plants (15 articles)