MYCELIAL EXTRACT OF ACREMONIUM sp.: A POTENT TARGET SPECIFIC BIO HERBECIDE AGAINST ECHINOCHLOA CRUS-GALLI AND ASPHODELUS TENUIFOLIUS

Bioactive secondary metabolites, isolated from microorganisms are playing important role in the manufacturing of potent drugs, pharmacuticals and agrochemicals. In this project the effects of organic extract obtained from fungi Acremonium on the germination of crop's seeds and weed's seed is reported. The Acremonium was cultivated on three different media including, Glucose Peptone Yeast Broth (GPYB), Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB) and Yeast Extract Sucrose Broth (YESB). The fungal cells were extracted with organic solvent and each extract was tested separately against the seed germination of weeds i.e Asphodelus tenuifolius and Echinochloa crus-galli as well as selected crop i.e. Cicer arietinum and Zea mays. The germination of seeds was compared with the standard herbicide and blank as a negative control. The maximum seed germination inhibition (63.89%) was observed for both Asphodelus tenuifolius and Echinochloa crus-galli from extract (1000 μgmL-1) obtained from YESB and PDB respectively. The crops seeds were least affected by the organic extract of Acremonium, the maximum germination inhibition (20.20%) was recorded for Zea mays seeds from extract obtained from YESB at 1000 μgmL-1 concentration, whereas against same extract the maximum germination inhibition of Cicer arietinum was recorded as 19.41%. From this study it is concluded that the crude extract from Acremonium sp. holds statistically significant inhibitory effects against seed germination of selected weeds whereas the extract was less effective against the seeds of crops. Thus the extract can further be explored for the development of weed specific herbicides.