25
Mar
Researchers Say New Class of Fungicide Is Safer
(Beyond Pesticides, March 25, 2009) Canadian researchers have discovered a new class of fungicides that can bolster a plant’s natural defenses against fungal attack. Unlike conventional fungicides, researchers say these new anti fungal agents, called paldoxins and based on natural plant chemicals, may prove to be safer, more selective and less likely to fall victim to pests becoming resistant. In a report presented at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society on March 23 in Salt Lake City, Utah, researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, describe their development of six synthetic versions of the new anti-fungal agent, which works to block fungal enzymes that overwhelm plants’ natural defenses. Plant chemicals, called phytoalexins, are responsible for the defense mechanism exhibited by many plants to kill disease-causing fungi. However, many fungi release enzymes that detoxify, or destroy the phytoalexin, leaving the plant vulnerable to the fungi’s attack. The researchers took advantage of this counterattack strategy by developing anti-fungal agents to block the fungi’s destruction of phytoalexins. Paldoxins are short for phytoalexin detoxification inhibitors. Lead researcher, Soledade Pedras, PhD, and her colleagues discovered these agents after screening broccoli, cauliflower, mustard greens and other plants in the so-called “crucifer family” of […]
