Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
History of Allelpathy
For over 2000 years, allelopathy has been reported in the literature with respect to
plant interference. Ancient literature has described the growth of crops which “rob the
soil of Nutrients”, “sicken the soil”, and even referred to roots producing toxins which
suppress plant growth. The earliest recorded observation of weed and crop allelopathy
were made by none other than Theophrastus (300 BC) and Pliny II (1AD. Pliny reported
that chickpea (cicer arientium), barley (Hordeum vulgare), fenugreek (Trigonella
foenum-graceum), and bitter vetch (Vicia evilia) destroy or burn up farmland (Rice,
1984). He also describe the shade of black walnut (Juglans spp) as heavy and believed
that walnut residues could cause potential injury to man and anything planted in the
vicinity. Pliny was apparently aware that release of chemical by plants contributed to this
soil sicken “the nature of some plants though not actually deadly is injurious owing to its
blend of scents or of juice.
In the 1600’s several naturalists noted in the English literature that certain plants
do not grow well in the presence of each other. The Japanese literature also shows
examples of plants causing injury to others due to the production of extracts of toxic
compounds with rainfall, specifically Japanese red pine (pinus densiflora) (Rice,1984). In
the 1800’s, agronomists started to note problems with repeated cropping of certain
perennials. For example, (Young, 1804) discovered that clover was apt to fail in some
regions of England where it is cultivated constantly due to soil sickness which accrues
over time. De Candolle was one of the first to actually perform experiments examining
the toxicity associated with root exudates (Candolle, 1832; Singh et al., 2001). In 1881,
Stickney and Hoy observed that vegetation under black walnut was very sparse in
settings, and pointed out that this might be due to high mineral requirement of the tree, or
the poisonous character of the moisture dripping off the tree itself .As Rice indicates, if
one peruses older literature, there are many examples describe by botanists, farmers and
gardeners that strongly suggest allopathic interaction among plants. It is interesting to
note that many of the species demonstrated to have powerful medicinal effect on humans
also have been Subsequently demonstrated to have powerful allopathic effects as well
(Chevalier, 1996; Rice, 1984; Wink 1999).

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Interest in the field of Allelopathy revived again in the 20th century, with the
development of suitable techniques for extraction, bioassay, and chemical isolation and
identification (Willis, 1997). Mc Calla et al; published a series of papers from 1948 until
1965 that describe Allelochemicals produced from plant residues and the importance of
the interaction of microbes upon the decomposition of these residue (Putnam and
Weston, 1986). Two outstanding contributors to the field of Allelopathy during this
period also included C.H. Muller and his associates at Santa Barbara, California who
published many articles on volatile inhibitors produced by plants growing in the chaparral
and desert. E.L. Rice at the University of Oklahoma contributed many papers to the field
and describe impacts of Allelochemical on nitrifying and nitrogen fixing bacteria in the
soil rhizosphere, as well as classical works documenting Allelopathy in prairie type
ecosystem of the central U.S. (Bell and Muller, 1969; Rice, 1984; Putnam and Weston,
1986). Rick Willis is now finishing an exhaustive review that thoroughly documents the
history and the science of Allelopathy as a field of research. Some of his work has
recently been published in the Allelopathy Journal (Willis, 1997; Willis, 2001). In the
past 5 years, the number of publication in the field of allelopathy has increased
exponentially as physiologists, soil scientists, weed scientists and natural products
chemists to study this challenging area (Macias, 2002).

Allelopathy
The term allelopathy was first introduced by Molisch in 1937 and refers to
chemical interactions among plants, including those mediated by microorganisms. This
definition, although broad, is reasonable as considerable research has recently indicated
the involvement of and Weiner, 2001; Putnam, 1986; Rice, 1984). Allelopathy may be
further defined as microorganism and lower plants in the production of phytochemical –
active compound (Inderjit a Important mechanism of plant interference mediated by the
addition of plant – produced secondary products to the rhizosphere. Chemicals with
allopathic potential are present in nearly all plants and their respective tissues, including
leaves, stems, roots, flowers, seeds, bark and buds. Under the appropriate environmental
conditions, these phytotoxins may be released into the environment in sufficient
quantities to effect the growth of neighboring plants (Weston, 1996).

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Allelochemicals

A substance produced by members of one species that influences the behavior or

growth of members of another species is called allelochemical. Allelochemical can be
divided into several categories. Kairomones benefit the receiving organism but cause
Disadvantage to the producer. For example, man plant (e. g cabbages ) Release
aromatic chemical that attract insect predators, while parasite often exploit the
Pheromones released by their hosts to locate a suitable host, certain insect
predators Detect their prey in a similar way. Allomones benefit the producer but
have no effect on the receiver. For example, many members of their distasteful nature.
Hence they are Protected from predation, while the impact on the potential predator
are neutral. The flower of certain orchid emit allomones that mimic the sex pheromones
of their bee or Wasp pollinator. Males of the respective insect species attempt to copulate
with the orchid flower, and pollinate it in the process, thus benefiting the orchid, while
the cost to the deceived male insect is minimal. Synomones are beneficial to both
producer and recipient. For example, pine trees damaged by beetles often emit terpenes
that attract parasitoid insect that parasitize the pest beetles. Hence the parasitoid finds a
suitable host and the tree’s pests are controlled.
Weeds are the most prevalent or dominant class of pests and interfere with crop
plants through ocomettitin and allelopathy, resulting in direct quantity and quality loss of
produce. Allelopathy is a mechanism that weeds often utilize to affect germination
dynamics and growth of field crops (Qasem and Foy, 2001; Kadioglu et al., 2005;
Benyas et al., 2010) in order to establish weedy monoculture by influencing species
patterning in agro-ecosystems (Weston and Duke, 2003). Living as well as dead weed
tissues that are left in the soil after completing the life cycle can have deleterious effects
on the same or subsequent crops by releasing allelochemicals (Batish et al., 2007). These
allelochemicals are reported to be present in almost all plant parts including stems,
leaves, flowers, buds, pollen grains, seeds, fruits, roots, and rhizomes (Rice, 1984; et al.,
2003). However, differences are observed among species regarding their of weed-crop
interaction Moreover, magnitude of allopathic suppression is believed to very with
sample preparation and extraction techniques (Zielinski and Kozlowska, 2000; Javaid et

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al., 2011). Little is known about the allopathic influence of E.dracunculoides against
associated crops. The allopathic potential of E.dracunculides on germination and
seedling growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and chickpea (Cicer arientinum L.),
main cereal and pulse crops in Pakistan.
Objectives of the study
The aim of my study is to how Euphorbia dracunculoides plant can affect the
wheat plant seed during germination and also study that what type of allelochemical
are found in Euphorbia dracunculoides plant which effect the growth of wheat plant.
To determine the phytotoxic effect of Euphorbia dracunculoides.