Albifimbria verrucaria DY01: a tomato-safe mycoherbicide candidate with broad-spectrum activity against farmland weeds and invasive Ageratina adenophora.

The rapid evolution of herbicide-resistant weeds has driven urgent demand for eco-friendly bioherbicides, yet most microbial agents suffer narrow application ranges and unstable field efficacy. In this study, an Albifimbria verrucaria strain DY01 was isolated from naturally diseased leaves of Oplismenus undulatifolius. At 4 × 107 CFU mL-1, DY01 spore suspension caused severe chlorosis and seedling mortality across six out of seven tested weeds within 5 days, while only Cyperus iria sustained minimal injury. The mortality rates of Echinochloa crus-galli, Microstegium vimineum, and the invasive species Ageratina adenophora reached 97.84%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. Crop safety evaluation further demonstrated unique selectivity: tomato showed no phytotoxic symptoms even at the maximum test concentration, whereas Chinese cabbage suffered near-complete mortality, wheat displayed high lethal rates, and maize plus broad bean developed extensive necrotic lesions and growth retardation. Comparative bioassays confirmed that the <1000 Da dialyzed fraction exhibited stronger weed-suppressive effects than crude extract, indicating that active metabolites are small-molecule-weight compounds. The genome of DY01 was sequenced, yielding a 44.73 Mb assembly comprising 10 scaffolds with 13 600 predicted genes and 92 biosynthetic regions were identified, including T1PKS, NRPS, and terpene-precursor clusters, indicating the substantial secondary-metabolite biosynthetic potential of DY01. This study identified a broad-spectrum, tomato-safe A. verrucaria isolate with potent phytotoxicity, offering a valuable microbial resource and molecular foundation for developing targeted bioherbicides applied in tomato planting systems. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.