Pest management with natural products

Authors: KOIVUNEN, MARJA - Eurofins Scientific, Inc; Duke, Stephen; COATS, JOEL - Iowa State University; Beck, John

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/22/2013
Publication Date: 9/25/2013
Publication URL: : http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-2013-1141.ch001
Citation: In: Koivunen, M.E., Duke, S.O., Coats, J.R., Beck, J.J. 2013. Pest management with natural products. In: Beck, J.J., Coats, J.R., Duke, S.O., Koivunem, M.E., editors. Pest Management with Natural Products, ACS Symposium Series, vol. 1141. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society. p. 1-4. DOI: 10.102/bk-2013-1141.ch001.

Interpretive Summary: The American Chemical Society (ACS) holds biannual National Meetings that bring together hundreds of scientists from all disciplines. The 2012 Philadelphia ACS Symposium on Natural Products for Pest Management introduced recent discoveries and applications of natural products from insect, terrestrial plant, microbial, and synthetic sources for the management of insects, weeds, plant pathogenic microbes, and nematodes. Natural products are considered compounds from sources such as terrestrial or marine plants and often have medicinal or other bioactive characteristics. The symposium brought together scientists from academic, government, and private research laboratories around the world. Discussed were recent aspects of pest management and how natural products play a vital role. Included were compounds exhibiting repellent, attractant, nematicide, herbicide, and fungicide activities, among others. Also highlighted was the use of volatile natural products emitted from trees as a way to detect early stages of pathogenic infection. In addition to recent advances, the symposium included reviews of important natural products that have proven successful as commercial products as well as the significance of responsible product stewardship. The symposium was dedicated to the late Dr. Horace Cutler whose 50-year career in natural products chemistry focused on discovery of compounds for pest management. Several talks discussed the synthesis of compounds based on natural products as well as recent progress in research concerning the modes of action of several natural products. These areas of research are important topics that address the ever-increasing resistance of agricultural pests to herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. This compilation of current investigations, significant past discoveries, and potential directions provides researchers – chemists, entomologists, ecologists, plant pathologists, weed scientists, physiologists, biochemists – with practical approaches for the use of natural products for the management of agricultural pests – whether they are insects, microbes, nematodes, or weeds.

Technical Abstract: The 2012 Philadelphia ACS Symposium on Natural Products for Pest Management introduced recent discoveries and applications of natural products from insect, terrestrial plant, microbial, and synthetic sources for the management of insects, weeds, plant pathogenic microbes, and nematodes. The symposium brought together scientists from academic, government, and private research laboratories around the world. Discussed were recent aspects of pest management and how natural products play a vital role. Included were compounds exhibiting repellent, attractant, nematicide, herbicide, and fungicide activities, among others. Also highlighted was the use of volatile natural products emitted from trees as a way to detect early stages of pathogenic infection. In addition to recent advances, the symposium included reviews of important natural products that have proven successful as commercial products as well as the significance of responsible product stewardship. The symposium was dedicated to the late Dr. Horace Cutler whose 50-year career in natural products chemistry focused on discovery of compounds for pest management. Several talks discussed the synthesis of compounds based on natural products as well as recent progress in research concerning the modes of action of several natural products. These areas of research are important topics that address the ever-increasing resistance of agricultural pests to herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. This compilation of current investigations, significant past discoveries, and potential directions provides researchers – chemists, entomologists, ecologists, plant pathologists, weed scientists, physiologists, biochemists – with practical approaches for the use of natural products for the management of agricultural pests – whether they are insects, microbes, nematodes, or weeds.