Advanced Mycoherbicides for Sustainable Management of Lantana camara: Emerging Technologies, Challenges, and Future Prospects

Author

Ajay Kumar Singh,Akhilesh Kumar Pandey

Abstract

 Lantana camara L. is one of the most destructive invasive perennial shrubs worldwide, causing extensive ecological degradation, biodiversity loss, reduced agricultural productivity, and substantial economic damage across tropical and subtropical ecosystems. The remarkable ecological adaptability, prolific reproductive capacity, persistent soil seed bank, vigorous vegetative regeneration, and allelopathic properties of this species have made its long-term management particularly challenging. Conventional control methods, including mechanical removal, synthetic herbicides, and classical biological control, often provide only temporary suppression and are associated with high operational costs, environmental concerns, inconsistent efficacy, and rapid reinvasion.

Mycoherbicides have emerged as environmentally sustainable alternatives for invasive weed management by exploiting fungal pathogens and their bioactive products. Recent advances in fungal biotechnology have expanded the scope of mycoherbicide development beyond conventional spore-based formulations to include fungal secondary metabolites, cell-free fermentation products, extracellular enzymes, nano-enabled delivery systems, and synthetic biology-assisted production platforms. These emerging technologies have the potential to improve formulation stability, product consistency, shelf life, target specificity, and field performance while reducing dependence on favorable environmental conditions required for successful fungal infection.

This review critically evaluates current progress in the development of advanced mycoherbicides for sustainable management of L. camara. Particular emphasis is placed on fungal pathogens, phytotoxic secondary metabolites, enzyme-based bioherbicides, cell-free fermentation technologies, nano-formulations, precision delivery systems, and synthetic biology approaches. The review also discusses mechanisms of fungal-mediated weed suppression, formulation strategies, commercialization pathways, biosafety considerations, regulatory requirements, and future research priorities. Finally, an integrated invasive weed management framework is proposed that combines mechanical biomass reduction, targeted application of fungal metabolites and enzymes, ecological restoration, and long-term monitoring to achieve durable suppression of L. camara. Collectively, this review provides a comprehensive scientific framework for the development of next-generation fungal bioherbicides that are safe, effective, economically viable, and environmentally compatible for sustainable invasive weed management.

Keywords

antana camara; invasive weeds; mycoherbicides; fungal pathogens; fungal secondary metabolites; cell-free bioherbicides; enzyme-based bioherbicides; nano-formulations; integrated weed management.

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References

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