Biochemical pesticides

Biochemical pesticides are naturally occurring substances that control pests by non-toxic mechanisms. Conventional pesticides, by contrast, are generally synthetic materials that directly kill or inactivate the pest. Biochemical pesticides include substances that interfere with mating, such as insect sex pheromones, as well as various scented plant extracts that attract insect pests to traps. Because it is sometimes difficult to determine whether a substance meets the criteria for classification as a biochemical pesticide, EPA has established a special committee to make such decisions.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING BIOPESTICIDES?

  1. Biopesticides are usually inherently less toxic than conventional pesticides.
  2. Biopesticides generally affect only the target pest and closely related organisms, in contrast to broad spectrum, conventional pesticides that may affect organisms as different as birds, insects and mammals.
  3. Biopesticides often are effective in very small quantities and often decompose quickly, resulting in lower exposures and largely avoiding the pollution problems caused by conventional pesticides.
  4. When used as a component of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs, biopesticides can greatly reduce the use of conventional pesticides, while crop yields remain high.

Sophorolipids-biosurfactant

Sophorolipids (SLPs) are the most promising glycolipid biosurfactants produced in large quantity by several nonpathogenic yeast species, among these Candida bombicola ATCC 22214 is the most studied SLP producing yeast.

SLPs composed by the disaccharide sophorose (2’-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-β-D-glycopyranose) linked (β – glycosidically) to a long fatty acid chain with generally 16 to 18 atoms of carbon with one or more unsaturation.

These compounds have characteristics, which are similar or even superior to the other biosurfactants and surfactants.

Some of these advantages are environmental compatibility, high biodegradability, low toxicity, high selectivity and specific activity in a broad range of temperature, pH and salinity conditions.

They fulfill the eco-friendly criteria combine Green chemistry and a lower carbon footprint. SLP possess a great potential for application in areas such as: Agriculture, Food, Biomedicine, Bioremediation, Cosmetics and Enhanced Oil Recovery.

Tripterygium wilfordii

Tripterygium wilfordii has many effects, such as clearing heat and detoxicating, expelling wind and clearing collaterals, relaxing tendons and activating blood circulation, and has certain curative effects on rheumatoid arthritis, nephritis, lupus erythematosus and other diseases.

The main active components of Tripterygium wilfordii are triptolide, tripterygium glycoside, triptolide, etc.

It is reported that Tripterygium wilfordii preparation has certain reproductive toxicity, and the damage to the reproductive system of male rats is mainly manifested by the increase in the number of sperm with abnormal morphology, and the decrease of sperm motility and vitality; High-dose or long-term use of drugs will also cause testicular spermatogenic cells to fall off, reduce or even disappear, thus affecting the occurrence of sperm; Decreases the activities of testicular acid phosphatase (ACP), hyaluronidase (HASe), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and phosphofructose kinase 1 (PFK1) and other related enzymes; Inhibit the key enzymes required for the synthesis of inhibin B (INHB) and testosterone, thus producing reproductive toxicity to male rats.

Fundamental functions of the amino acids in plants

FunctionAmino Acid
Anti-stress agentHyp, Pro
Chelating agentCys, Glu, Gly, His, Lys
Cold weather resistanceAla, Arg
Generative development of plants and improvement of the plant pollen fertilityHyp, Pro
Growth stimulatorGlu
Precursor of auxinSer, Trp, Val
Precursor of chlorophyllGly
Precursor of polyamines: necessary to start the cell divisionArg
Precursor to the formation of lignin and woody tissuesPhe
Regulation of the water balanceHyp, Pro, Ser
Reserve of organic nitrogen necessary for the synthesis of other amino acids and proteinsGlu
Stimulation of the chlorophyll synthesisAla, Lys, Ser
Stimulation of the ethylene synthesisMet
Stimulation of the germinationAsp, Glu, Lys, Met, Phe, Thr
Stimulation of the hormone metabolismAla
Stimulation of the resistance mechanism to virusesAla

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Amino Acid

Amino acids

The amino acids are building blocks of protein molecules and hence used in dietary and feed supplements of human and animals, respectively (Mahmood 2015). These organic molecules have various role, such as animal feed additives (lysine, methionine, threonine), flavor enhancers (aspartic acid, monosodium glutamate, serine), antioxidants (cysteine, L-tryptophan and L-histidine), as sweeteners (aspartame made from aspartic acid and phenylalanine), and ingredients in cosmetic and medicinal products (Bommarius et al. 1998; Ikeda 2003; Mueller and Huebner2003;Leuchtenberger et al. 2005; Park and Lee 2008; Ivanov et al. 2014).

Additionally, amino acids are suggested as dietary supplements for body building, bruxism, depression, sleep aid, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, and smoking cessation. Nonessential amino acids can be synthesized by human body but essential amino acids cannot be synthesized in human body but are required for protein synthesis and therefore, dietary supplement is necessary from external sources.

Hence, production of essential amino acids at industrial scale using microbial sources is promising and desirable. The worldwide production technology for amino acids is dominated by microbial fermentation and enzymatic processes owing to cost-effectiveness, ecological acceptability and ease to produce enantiomerically pure amino acids

Microbial metabolites

Microorganisms are a promising source of an enormous number of natural products, which have made significant contribution to almost each sphere of human, plant and veterinary life.

Natural compounds obtained from microorganisms have proved their value in nutrition, agriculture and healthcare. Primary metabolites, such as amino acids, enzymes, vitamins, organic acids and alcohol are used as nutritional supplements as well as in the production of industrial commodities through biotransformation.

Whereas, secondary metabolites are organic compounds that are largely obtained by extraction from plants or tissues. They are primarily used in the biopharmaceutical industry due to their capability to reduce infectious diseases in human beings and animals and thus increase the life expectancy.

Additionally, microorganisms and their products inevitably play a significant role in sustainable agriculture development.