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Volume 7, Issue 2 (Suppl)
J Ecosyst Ecography, an open access journal
ISSN:2157-7625
September 18-20, 2017
September 18-20, 2017 Toronto, Canada
Joint Conference
International Conference on
International Conference on
Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology
&
Ecology and Ecosystems
Secondary metabolites with pesticide activity from plant pathogenic fungi
Kumudini M Meepagala
USDA-ARSUSDA-ARS (United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service), USA
P
hytopathogenic fungi produce secondary metabolites that are toxic to host plants. These fungi have evolved to survive in the
ecological niche by producing secondary metabolites to compete with other fungi, plants and insects. Thus, these toxins can have
various biological activities. As part of ongoing research efforts at USDA, we have investigated some plant pathogenic fungi in search
of natural products that can be used as pesticides or can be used as lead compounds in designing such compounds. Phomalactone
isolated from
Nigrospora spherica
, a plant pathogenic fungus isolated from
Zinnia elegans
and Hydrangea
macrophylla
, was found
to be phytotoxic and mosquitocidal. From the culture medium of
Curvularia intermedia
,
αβ-dehydrocurvularin
was isolated as a
phytotoxin.
Pyricularia grisea
is a fungus selective to monocots. From the culture broth of this fungus, pyrichalasin was isolated
as the phytotoxin. A colony of three fungi was isolated from necrotic leaves of
Basella alba
, commonly known as Malabar Spinach.
Diaporthe eres
was isolated from infected
Hedera helix
leaves. An isocoumarins was isolated from the culture broth of this fungus and
found to have phytotoxic and mosquito larvicidal activities. Based on this molecule, several analogs of isocoumarins were synthesized
with higher phytotoxic activity. Isolation of active metabolites and synthesis of analogs will be discussed.
Biography
Kumudini M Meepagala has been working in USDA-ARS for over 15 years. She is working on isolation of natural products from plants and fungi that can be used
as agrochemicals. She is also involved in synthesis and structure modification of natural products to develop mosquito repellents and larvicidal.
kmeepaga@olemiss.eduKumudini M Meepagala, J Ecosyst Ecography 2017, 7:2 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2157-7625-C1-029