
Government,
Industry Team up Against Exotic Water WeedBy Ben Hardin April 26, 2001Scientists are teaming up to find ways
to reverse the spread of hydrilla, an exotic weed that grows underwater and
clogs numerous waterways and reservoirs in southern parts of North America. The Agricultural Research Service,
building on the success of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, has entered into a three-year Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement (CRADA) with SePRO
Corporation, Carmel, Ind. The company markets aquatic weed control
products. The researchers goal: to introduce effective bioherbicides that
can be integrated with current control efforts. The fungus tapped for the research is called Mycoleptodiscusterrestris, and it may have helped keep some native American weeds in
check since time immemorial. Applying a little extra measure of the fungus as a
bioherbicide at the right time may be just the ticket for keeping the
hydrilla--originally from Asia--from flourishing. The CRADA is aimed at finding
ways to mass produce and formulate M.terrestris to demonstrate
its commercial potential. Scientists at the Corps U.S. Army
Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, Miss., isolated
M.terrestris from microbes collected from diseased hydrilla.
After further research, they surmised the fungus was a good candidate for
application as a biological control agent and began working with ARS scientists
at the National Center for Agricultural
Utilization Research (NCAUR), Peoria, Ill. The Peoria scientists also have
been developing expertise in producing other potential biopesticides. Development of a safe, biological control measure should help reduce the
environmental and economic impact of hydrilla, which grows so competitively
with other aquatic plants that biological diversity may be threatened in many
lakes and streams. Hydrilla is notorious for clogging marinas, snarling fishing
lines and interfering with flood control and hydroelectric power generation. In
times of drought, these weeds can also obstruct the flow of irrigation water. ARS is the chief scientific agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Scientific contact: Mark A. Jackson, ARS National Center for
Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Ill., phone (309) 681-6283, fax
(309) 681-6693, [email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture |