User:Jnbruner/sandbox

Management
Broomrape is one of the most destructive agricultural weeds currently affecting the globe, thus management of it is important. However, it is difficult to control because most of its life cycle is spent underneath the soil surface. This makes it hard to detect the broomrape’s developmental stage (which is the best stage to attack the broomrape). Herbicides have been in use to control broomrape since the 1970s, but the effectiveness varies depending on the host plant’s response and the type of herbicide used. Some herbicides include sulfonylurea and imidazolinone herbicides. Currently, advances in technology are allowing the detection and monitoring of broomrape development in subsurface soil. One piece of technology used is the minirhizotron video camera. With this and other technology, scientists can determine at what time in the broomrape’s development it is most susceptible to the herbicides.

Another project that’s been done which may help investigate broomrape development is the Parasitic Plant Genome Project. This project set out to discover as much of the gene sequence as possible of three parasitic Orobanchaceae species, including the broomrape species Orobanche aegyptiaca. In understanding the parasite’s biology at the genomic level, scientists will be able to better understand the exact relationship it has with its host, how it develops, and how best to control it. This will be the case not only for broomrape, but also for witchweed, another parasitic plant studied in the Parasitic Plant Genome Project.