Natural Products for the Control of Insects, Mites, and Nematodes

Agriculture needs biorational pesticides to serve as replacements in an industry dominated by outdated synthetic chemicals. Residues in the food supply, environmental impact, and worker safety issues underscore the need for novel pesticides. Without a range of products with unique modes of action, the overuse of limited chemicals and biorational approaches (Bacillus thuringiensis-based transgenic crops) will increase the probability of induced pest resistance. Microbial natural products offer an untapped source of agrochemical diversity. Successful products in this category, including Avermectin, Spinosyn, and others have demonstrated highly specific insecticidal activities. At AgraQuest, over 4000 novel microbes are evaluated every year. Cultivation media have been designed to enhance metabolite production and screening is fully automated. Over 3,000 in vivo plant pathogen, insect, mite, and nematode targets are evaluated every week. Leads are rapidly de-replicated using HPLC-UV and LCMS- based data mining. The Phase I research described in this proposal will demonstrate the commercial potential of two novel microbial strains with highly specific biopesticide activity against economically important insect and nematode pests.