Biorational control of weeds and fungi with peptides
1994
Lax, A.R. | Bland, J.M. | Shepherd, H.S.
Tentoxin is a cyclic tetrapeptide produced by the fungus Alternaria alternata that disrupts chloroplast development in most of the major weed species in soybean and johnsongrass in corn while having no effect on either of these crop species. The major impediment to the development of tentoxin as a herbicide is its limited availability because of low biosynthetic yields. Iturins are a family of cyclic octapeptides having a unique beta-amino acid, iturinic acid, incorporated into the peptide backbone. Iturins have a broad antifungal activity, but low biosynthetic yields may limit their commercialization. Chemical synthesis of both molecules is possible and the production of analogues has led to meaningful structure/activity relationships. To date no analog has provided greater activity or specificity than the parent molecule for either of the two agents. Molecular genetic manipulation is considered the best strategy for the increase in production of both of these compounds for cost effective synthesis. Success of cloning of the biosynthetic genes may determine the eventual deployment of these biorational pesticides.
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