Marine Natural Products in Crop Protection

Dear Colleagues,

Agriculture that provides the fruits and vegetables for the rapidly growing world population is a crucial sector for the survival and wellbeing of human beings. However, various types of harmful pests (plant pathogens, harmful insects, or invasive plants/weeds) threaten global agriculture, affecting the quality and yield of crops. For example, more than 10% of global crop production is lost to plant diseases. Currently, cheap and easily applicable synthetic herbicides and pesticides, including fungicides and insecticides, represent the main solution for pest management. However, their toxicity to humans, animals, and the whole ecosystem has been a major concern, and several blockbuster pesticides are being banned by the authorities. The climate change and loss of biodiversity further aggravates the problems associated with synthetic pesticides.

As in many areas, natural products obtained from terrestrial plants and microorganisms have provided many scaffolds for pesticide development. However, the potential marine organisms in crop protection have remained largely underexplored. Therefore, this Special Issue aims to stimulate research on marine natural products (MNPs) deriving from marine macro-organisms (e.g., invertebrates, seaweeds) and marine micro-organisms to yield new lead compounds for protection of essential crop plants.

The main foci of this Special Issue will be on, but not restricted to, the following areas:

1. Isolation and identification of MNPs with biological activity against:
• Plant (crop) pathogens (phytopathogens);
• Harmful insects;
2. MNPs for weed control (phytotoxicity);
3. Target and mode of action studies on MNPs with fungicide/herbicide/insecticide activity;
4. Omics in the isolation and identification of new MNP agrochemicals;
5. Chemical synthesis and bioactivity studies on marine-originated pesticide lead compounds.

Sincerely,

Prof. Deniz Tasdemir
Guest Editor

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