Award details

Novel semiochemicals for crop protection through synthetic biology

Reference	BB/N012526/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Rudolf Allemann
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Dr Michael Birkett, Dr David Miller, Professor John Pickett
Institution	Cardiff University
Department	Chemistry
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	197,423
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	15/02/2016
End date	30/09/2017
Duration	19 months

Abstract

unavailable

Summary

Due to pressure on available farmland there is an urgent need for sustainably enhancing food crop production. One approach to combat insect pests is to repel or attract them using pheromone or other chemical signal baited traps, keeping them away from high-value crops. Past attempts at the rational design of artificial insect pheromones have failed largely due to the highly specific nature of recognition processes in insects. Recently we have succeeded in producing modified aphid repellents/attractants through a strategic chemoenzymatic approach. One compound in particular proved to be a strong aphid attractant in small-scale laboratory experiments. We intend to produce more of this compound to test its efficacy in field simulations and also to explore the activity of some new closely related compounds. Furthermore we will seek to commercialise the invention with prospective business partners.

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Crop Science, Plant Science
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Follow-On Fund (FOF) [2004-2015]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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