Sheep sorrel is an invasive, creeping perennial weed of lowbush blueberry fields. It is one of the most prominent weeds in blueberry fields in Nova Scotia and is responsible for decreasing yields. Three levels of fertilizer (0, 20, 40 kg N ha−1) and two levels of hexazinone (0 or 1.92 kg ai ha−1) were applied to experimental plots to determine their effects on sheep sorrel density. Sprout-year hexazinone reduced sheep sorrel densities, which led to increased yields. Fertilizer increased weed density in the absence of herbicides, had no effect on density in the presence of herbicides, tended to have no impact on floral buds, and did not increase yields. Fruiting-year hexazinone decreased sheep sorrel densities in some situations, but did not result in yield increases.

Except for a small number of cases in which biocontrol agents were introduced from the site of origin of a weed (classical biocontrol), there have been few cases where a pathogen was virulent enough to perform cost effectively in the field as a mycoherbicide. Mycoherbicides are typically weed species specific, so compatibility with herbicides used to control other weeds is often studied. There can be a synergy between mycoherbicides and herbicides at the field level due to overlapping weed spectra (such synergies are not discussed in depth herein). Two approaches have been used to ascertain whether there is synergy in controlling the target weed: (1) random screening with herbicides; (2) using herbicides as antimetabolites to inhibit specific pathways, enhancing virulence. Glyphosate is the most common herbicide to synergize mycoherbicides, possibly due to its dual function as an inhibitor of biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid phytoalexins by suppressing enolphosphate-shikimate phosphate synthase, or by suppressing callose production (by inhibiting callose synthase) as well as inhibiting other calcium-dependent pathways due to the calcium-chelating properties of glyphosate.

Chemical ripening of sugarcane is an important component to profitable sugar production in the United States as well as other sugarcane industries throughout the world. Harvesting of sugarcane often begins before the sugarcane reaches the desirable maturity level. This is especially true in the Louisiana sugarcane industry where the window for harvesting is limited because of the risk of freezing temperatures encountered in a temperate climate. Research on the application of chemicals, mostly of herbicide origin, to enhance sucrose accumulation (ripening) or limit flowering to conserve stored sucrose has been conducted for more than 60 yr. The only sugarcane ripener currently registered for use in the United States is glyphosate applied before harvest. The herbicide fluazifop is used as the primary ripener of sugarcane in South Africa. The herbicides glyphosate, fluazifop, and sulfometuron-methyl and the growth regulators ethephon and trinexapac-ethyl are registered for use in Brazil. There is a continuing need to evaluate sugarcane ripeners to increase the utility of currently registered ripeners and to find additional ripeners for use by sugarcane industries. The need for alternatives to glyphosate is especially critical before a glyphosate-tolerant sugarcane can be utilized to improve control of problematic weeds.

For many years, virtually all pharmaceutical companies had an agrochemical division. This was partly to maximize the benefits of expensive chemical synthesis efforts by searching for many types of useful biological activities. Leads for pharmaceuticals and pesticides often overlap, in some cases leading to similar compounds used for human health and weed management purposes. This review will focus on herbicides and herbicide classes that have potential pharmaceutical properties, both as therapeutic agents that act through human molecular target sites and those that act on infectious agents. An example of the first case is compounds that target plant acetyl coenzyme A carboxylases, inhibiting fatty acid synthesis, and similar compounds used in humans as anti-inflammatory agents. Another such example is the triketone class of compounds that can act both as herbicides and as treatments for the genetic disease tyrosinemia, targeting the same enzyme in both cases. Examples of the second case are the relatively large number of herbicides that have activity against the malaria protozoan (Plasmodium spp.). It turns out that Plasmodium spp. and related disease organisms have an organelle that is apparently analogous to the plant plastid, the apicoplast. Herbicides such as dinitroanilines are active against several protozoan parasites by the same mechanism by which they kill plants, interaction with tubulin to halt cell division and other tubulin-dependent processes. These and other multiple activities of various herbicides and herbicide classes provide perspective on the broad biological activity of herbicides and related compounds.

Herbicides are small molecules that inhibit specific molecular target sites within plant biochemical pathways and/or physiological processes. Inhibition of these sites often has catastrophic consequences that are lethal to plants. The affinity of these compounds for their respective target sites makes them useful tools to study and dissect the intricacies of plant biochemical and physiological processes. For instance, elucidation of the photosynthetic electron transport chain was achieved in part by the use of herbicides, such as terbutryn and paraquat, which act on photosystem II and I, respectively, as physiological probes. Work stemming from the discovery of the binding site of PS II–inhibiting herbicides was ultimately awarded the Nobel Prize in 1988. Although not as prestigious as the seminal work on photosynthesis, our knowledge of many other plant processes expanded significantly through the ingenious use of inhibitors as molecular probes. Examples highlight the critical role played by herbicides in expanding our understanding of the fundamental aspects of the synthesis of porphyrins and the nonmevalonate pathway, the evolution of acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase, cell wall physiology, the functions of microtubules and the cell cycle, the role of auxin and cyanide, the importance of subcellular protein targeting, and the development of selectable markers.

As all herbicides act on pathways or processes crucial to plants, in an inhibitory or stimulatory way, low doses of any herbicide might be used to beneficially modulate plant growth, development, or composition. Glyphosate, the most used herbicide in the world, is widely applied at low rates to ripen sugarcane. Low rates of glyphosate also can stimulate plant growth (this effect is called hormesis). When applied at recommended rates for weed control, glyphosate can inhibit rust diseases in glyphosate-resistant wheat and soybean. Fluridone blocks carotenoid biosynthesis by inhibition of phytoene desaturase and is effective in reducing the production of abscisic acid in drought-stressed plants. Among the acetolactate synthase inhibitors, sulfometuron-methyl is widely used to ripen sugarcane and imidazolinones can be used to suppress turf species growth. The application of protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors can trigger plant defenses against pathogens. Glufosinate, a glutamine synthetase inhibitor, is also known to improve the control of plant diseases. Auxin agonists (i.e., dicamba and 2,4-D) are effective, low-cost plant growth regulators. Currently, auxin agonists are still used in tissue cultures to induce somatic embryogenesis and to control fruit ripening, to reduce drop of fruits, to enlarge fruit size, or to extend the harvest period in citrus orchards. At low doses, triazine herbicides stimulate growth through beneficial effects on nitrogen metabolism and through auxin-like effects. Thus, sublethal doses of several herbicides have applications other than weed control.

Herbicides used as harvest aids are applied at crop maturity to desiccate weed and crop foliage. Weeds present in the harvested crop can increase moisture content and foreign material, reducing grade and market price. Weeds can also delay the harvest operation and reduce harvest efficiency. Glyphosate can be used to desiccate weeds in glyphosate-resistant crops without concern for crop injury. Carfentrazone and pyraflufen-ethyl used as harvest aids can be effective in desiccating broadleaf weeds in corn and soybean. Paraquat, although effective on grass and broadleaf weeds when applied late season, can cause significant crop injury if applied too early. With expanded production of early maturing soybean cultivars in the mid-South (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri bootheel, and west Tennessee), presence of green stems, green pods, or green leaf retention, or combinations of these at harvest has increased. Interest in harvest aids has shifted to use as a crop desiccant. Paraquat also is an effective soybean desiccant, but application timing differs for indeterminate and determinate cultivars. Paraquat applied after soybean seed reached physiological maturity reduced number of green stems, pods, and retained green leaves present, allowing harvest to proceed 1 to 2 wk earlier than nontreated soybean. Seed moisture, foreign material, and seed damage also were reduced when paraquat was applied.

Assessing belowground plant competition is complex because it is very difficult to separate weed and crop roots from each other by physical methods. Alternative techniques for separating crop and weed roots from each other are needed. This article introduces a stable isotope method that can quantify the amounts of roots of rice and barnyardgrass intermixed in flooded field soils. It relies on the biological principle that rice, a C3 (photosynthetic pathway) species, discriminates more effectively than barnyardgrass, a C4 species, against a relatively rare isotopic form (13C) of CO2. This results in different 13C: 12C isotope ratios (expressed as δ13C) in root tissues of the two species. δ13C values for monoculture barnyardgrass and rice grown in a standard flood-irrigated system were highly stable over 4 crop-years, averaging −13.12 ± 0.80 (SD) and −28.5 ± 0.11 (SD)‰, respectively, based on analysis by an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Standard concentration curves relating measured δ13C values to set proportions of rice:barnyardgrass root biomass were described by linear regressions, typically with r2 values of 0.96 or greater. Quantities of intermixed rice and barnyardgrass roots sampled 0 to 5 cm deep from soil between rice rows were estimated by extrapolation from standard curves based on δ13C values. About 50% more barnyardgrass root tissue was detected in plots of Lemont long-grain rice than in weed-suppressive PI 312777 indica rice, demonstrating the feasibility of using this stable carbon isotope method in flooded rice systems.