Induction of Cryptic Natural Product Fungicides from Actinomycetes

摘要

Natural products have been a productive source of lead chemistry for the development of crop protection fungicides. Unfortunately, the past discovery of thousands of natural fungicidal compounds has complicated natural product discovery since rediscovery of known compounds is common. At Dow AgroSciences we believe that natural products can provide novel fungicidal chemistry for fungicide development; however, continued effective discovery will require creative approaches. Several such approaches are described in this review. First, it is known that microbial genomes encode many pathways for novel natural products that are unexpressed. Induction of these cryptic pathways represents tremendous potential for discovery of novel compounds. Second, chemical synthesis is a proven method for development of new commercial fungicides. Natural products both novel and known can be a productive source of novel bioactive scaffolds.