Fungal Phytotoxins in Sustainable Weed Management.

Fungal phytotoxins are natural secondary metabolites produced by plant pathogenic fungi during host-pathogen interactions. They have received considerable particular attention for elucidating disease etiology, and consequently to design strategies for disease control. Due to wide differences in their chemical structures, these toxic metabolites have different ecological and environmental roles and mechanisms of action. This review aims at summarizing the studies on the possible use of thesemetabolites as tools in biological and integrated weed management, e.g. as: novel and environmentally friendly herbicideslead for novel compounds; sources of novel mechanisms of action. Moreover, the limiting factors for utilizing those metabolites in practice will also be briefly discussed.