Institut für die Sicherheit biotechnologischer Verfahren bei Pflanzen
Climate change facilitates the occurrence of plant diseases, which were previously not observed in Central Europe and caused by introduced phytopathogenic fungi. Some of these pathogens produce herbicidal natural products, alkynes. Based on potential applications in agriculture, we aim to develop these compounds into broadly applicable and safe herbicides. In the light of changing consumer acceptance and expiring registrations, we aim to access and commercialize such bioinspired products by developing a biotechnological production chain and analyzing their activity scope and structure-activity relationship. The coordinating Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) will develop enzymes and biosynthetic pathways to access the target compounds and to enable their biotechnological production in suitable microorganisms. This includes the design of a production strain to ready-to-use scalable production processes, including recovery from the fermentation broth in the latter step. In order to dissect the structure-activity relationship of the compound class, the chemical diversity of the herbicides will be increased at IPB by synthesis of derivatives. After testing for the desired herbicide activity, the produced compounds will then be assayed for their activity profile and environmental safety at the Julius-Kühn Institute. For that, JKI SB will test the provided substances with different plants like herbs and crops for their herbicidal effects. Furthermore, SB will investigate potential negative side effects on soil microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria. Herbicides with favorable properties will then be formulated and tested under field conditions by the company partner Neudorff.
Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
