ALLELOPATHIC EFFECT OF AILANTHUS ALTISSIMAEXTRACT ON THE GERMINATION OF ZEA MAYS, OCIMUM BASILICUM AND PHACELIA TANACETIFOLIA SEEDS
DINA ELISOVETCAIA *, RAISA IVANOVA Institute of Genetics, Physiology and Plant Protection, USM, MD-2002, 20 Pădurii Str., Chişinău, Republic of Moldova, e-mail: elisovetcaia.dina@gmail.com; raisa.a.ivanova@gmail.com.
* Corresponding author’s
Extracts from various parts of the plant Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, due to the content of phenolic compounds and quassinoids, may have herbicidal or allelopathic properties against various plant species. The most valuable are natural herbicides with selective action. Therefore, the purpose of our work was to study the allelopathic effect of the ethanol extract from leaves of A. altissima on the germination of seeds of both cultivated (Zea mays L.) and weed (Ocimum basilicum L. and Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.) plants. It was found that under laboratory conditions, the extract of A. altissima at a concentration of 1.25–2.50% significantly (p≤0.05) suppressed the germination of all tested seeds, and also completely suppressed the growth of the shoots. The length of the roots in the variants with the extract was significantly lower than the control (41.7–43.3 times for Z. mays, 31.3–31.4 times for O. basilicum and 7.4–7.7 times for P. tanacetifolia) and at the level of a chemical standard (0.30–0.50 cm). The most significant allelopathic effect was found in the extract of A. altissima at a concentration of 2.5% dry matter – the suppression of germination was 91.5-99.0%, depending on the species of seed: the highest rate of germinated seeds (8.5%) was noted for the cultivated plant Z. mays, while the lowest (1.0%) is found for the seeds of P. tanacetifolia. It was established that the seeds treated with the extract from A. altissima, as well as in the standard, had low germination energy, which was an order of magnitude less than in both control and chemical standard variants. The least sensitive to the effects of the A. altissima extract at a concentration of 1.25% were the seeds of O. basilicum – germination was 37.75%, which was still significantly (2.5–2.6 times) lower than in the control and standard. Therefore, A. altissima ethanolic extract did not show selectivity of action and showed allelopathic properties both in relation to the dicotyledonous weeds of O. basilicum and P. tanacetifolia, and in relation to the cultivated monocotyledonous Z. mays plant.
