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Natural Compounds: A Bio-Agent for Plant Protection
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Natural Compounds: A Bio-Agent for Plant Protection

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 June 2022) | Viewed by 15249

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Azucena González-Coloma

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Guest Editor
Plant protection Department, Institute of Agricultural Sciences- CSIC, Serrano 115-b, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Interests: phytochemistry; natural bioactive products; natural agrochemicals
Dr. María Fe Andrés

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Guest Editor
Plant protection Department, Institute of Agricultural Sciences- CSIC, Serrano 115-b, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
Interests: plant protection; biopesticides; plant parasitic nematodes
Dr. José Francisco Quílez del Moral

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Guest Editor
Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: natural products (terpenes); organic synthesis; pest control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Carmen E. Diaz

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Guest Editor
Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
Interests: biotechnology of natural products; transformed roots; in vitro culture; fungal biotransformations.

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants will publish a Special Issue called “Natural Compounds: A Bio-Agent for Plant Protection”. Natural plant products may act as crop protectants through their biocidal effects against plant pests and diseases. Additionally, natural product-inspired compounds have played and will continue playing a pivotal role in the development of new biopesticides. Plants are defended by a wide array of secondary metabolites that act synergistically as a result of plant–insect or plant–pathogen coevolution. These metabolites represent a source of new biopesticides with different modes of action (molecules to develop new products, new pesticide ingredients or enriched extracts for greener formulations). 

Natural biopesticides have been gaining importance in recent years because they have lower harmful effects. Currently, the EU and other international regulations are very restrictive in terms of pesticide use; therefore, the agrochemical industries are focusing on new products for the reduction and replacement of synthetic pesticides by natural compounds. Plants (including agricultural waste) and their endophyte fungi represent a promising source of active agents that can become a solution for the mandatory synthetic pesticide replacement / reduction. 

This Special Issue aims to address research and innovation leading to new products for plant protection covering the following fields: 

  • Natural products with plant protection effects—isolation and characterization.
  • Sustainable production of bioactive extracts and products for crop protection.
  • Biomimetic and/or total synthesis of biopesticides.
  • Metabolomics in plant protection.
  • Biopesticides from plant residues/agricultural waste.
  • Biotechnological production/optimization of botanical biopesticides.

Dr. Azucena González-Coloma
Dr. María Fe Andrés
Dr. José Francisco Quílez del Moral
Dr. Carmen E. Diaz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • organic synthesis
  • structural elucidation
  • bioactive compounds
  • crop protectants
  • crop pests
  • biopesticides
  • natural products

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 965 KiB  
Article
Antifungal and Herbicidal Potential of Piper Essential Oils from the Peruvian Amazonia
by Liliana Ruiz-Vásquez, Lastenia Ruiz Mesia, Henrry Denny Caballero Ceferino, Wilfredo Ruiz Mesia, Maria Fe Andrés, Carmen Elisa Díaz and Azucena Gonzalez-Coloma
Plants 2022, 11(14), 1793; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11141793 - 7 Jul 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2496
Abstract
The chemical composition of essential oils (EOs) from ten Peruvian Piper species (Piper coruscans, Pc; P. tuberculatum, Pt; P. casapiense, Pcs; P. obliquum, Po; P. dumosum, Pd; P. anonifolium, Pa; P. reticulatum, Pr; P. soledadense [...] Read more.
The chemical composition of essential oils (EOs) from ten Peruvian Piper species (Piper coruscans, Pc; P. tuberculatum, Pt; P. casapiense, Pcs; P. obliquum, Po; P. dumosum, Pd; P. anonifolium, Pa; P. reticulatum, Pr; P. soledadense, Ps; P. sancti-felicis, Psf and P. mituense, Pm) has been studied, along with their antifungal and phytotoxic activities. These EOs contained β-bisabolene/nerolidol (Pc), β-bisabolene/δ-cadinene/caryophyllene (Pt), caryophyllene oxide (Pcs), bicyclogermacrene/10-epi-Elemol (Po), bicyclogermacrene/germacrene-D/apiol (Pd), caryophyllene/germacrene-D (Pa), germacrene-D (Pr), limonene/apiol (Ps), apiol (Psf), and apiol/bicyclogermacrene (Pm) as major components, and some are described here for the first time (Ps, Pcs, Pm). A composition-based dendrogram of these Piper species showed four major groups (G1: Pc and Pt, G2: Pcs, Po, Pd, Pa, and Pr, G3: Ps, and G4: Psf and Pm). The spore germination effects (Aspergillus niger, Botrytis cinerea, and Alternaria alternate) and phytotoxicity (Lolium perenne and Lactuca sativa) of these EOs were studied. Most of these Piper essential oils showed important activity against phytopathogenic fungi (except G1), especially against B. cinerea. Similarly, most of the essential oils were phytotoxic against L. perenne (except G1), with P. sancti-felicis (G4), P. casapiense (G2), and P. reticulatum (G2) being the most effective. Caryophyllene oxide, β-caryophyllene, β-pinene, limonene, α-humulene, and apiol were evaluated against B. cinerea, with the most effective compounds being β-pinene, apiol, and limonene. This work demonstrates the species-dependent potential of essential oils from Peruvian Piper species as fungicidal and herbicidal agents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds: A Bio-Agent for Plant Protection)
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9 pages, 961 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Production of Insecticidal Compounds from Persea indica
by Azucena Gonzalez-Coloma, María Fe Andrés, Rodrigo Contreras, Gustavo E. Zúñiga and Carmen Elisa Díaz
Plants 2022, 11(3), 418; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11030418 - 3 Feb 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1649
Abstract
In this work, we have investigated the accumulation of ryanoids in different plant parts (leaves, stems and roots) of aeroponically grown Persea indica cloned trees (one-year-old cloned individuals) and a selected mature, wild tree. We tested the insect antifeedant (against Spodoptera littoralis, Myzus [...] Read more.
In this work, we have investigated the accumulation of ryanoids in different plant parts (leaves, stems and roots) of aeroponically grown Persea indica cloned trees (one-year-old cloned individuals) and a selected mature, wild tree. We tested the insect antifeedant (against Spodoptera littoralis, Myzus persicae and Rhopalosiphum padi) and nematicidal (against Meloidogyne javanica) effects of ethanolic extracts from these different plant parts. The HPLC-MS analysis of P. indica extracts showed that mature tree (wild) leaves had two times more chemical diversity than stems. Aeroponic plants showed fewer differences in chemical diversity between leaves and stems, with the lowest diversity found in the roots. Ryanodane epiryanodol (1) was present in all the plant parts, with the mature stems (wild) containing the highest amount. The aeroponic stems also accumulated ryanoids including 1, cinnzeylanol (2) and cinnzeylanone (4). The insect Spodoptera littoralis was strongly affected by the stem extracts, while leaf extracts were moderately active. Based on predicted vs. real antifeedant values, we concluded that the ryanoid content (1 or a combination of 2, 4 and 1) explained the antifeedant effects of the stem extracts, while additional components contributed to the activity of the leaf extracts. Therefore, careful individual selection of P. indica seedlings should be carried out prior to proceeding with aeroponic cultivation in order to obtain ryanodane-rich stem or leaf extracts with strong antifeedant effects on S. littoralis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds: A Bio-Agent for Plant Protection)
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18 pages, 943 KiB  
Article
Organic Amendments Effects on Nutrient Uptake, Secondary Metabolites, and Antioxidant Properties of Melastoma malabathricum L.
by Lili Syahani Rusli, Rosazlin Abdullah, Jamilah Syafawati Yaacob and Normaniza Osman
Plants 2022, 11(2), 153; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11020153 - 6 Jan 2022
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2703
Abstract
Amelioration of soil acidity can boost soil fertility, hence increasing nutrient uptake, secondary metabolite, and its antioxidant potential. In the present study, the effectiveness of food waste compost and palm kernel biochar was assessed as soil amendments for Melastoma malabathricum L. grown in [...] Read more.
Amelioration of soil acidity can boost soil fertility, hence increasing nutrient uptake, secondary metabolite, and its antioxidant potential. In the present study, the effectiveness of food waste compost and palm kernel biochar was assessed as soil amendments for Melastoma malabathricum L. grown in acidic soil conditions. A six-month greenhouse study was conducted using completely randomized design (CRD) with three treatment groups, including control plants (T1), plants amended with palm kernel biochar (T2), and plants amended with food waste compost (T3). Data analysis revealed that Melastoma malabathricum L. amended with T3 recorded the highest total chlorophyll content (433.678 ± 13.224 µg g−1 DW), followed by T2 and T1. The increase in chlorophyll content was contributed by the increase in soil pH. This was shown by the positive significant correlations between soil pH and chlorophyll a (r2 = 0.96; p ≤ 0.01) and chlorophyll b (r2 = 0.778; p ≤ 0.01). In addition, the same treatment exhibited the highest total anthocyanin content (leaves; 36.1 × 10−2 ± 0.034 mg/g DW and root extract; 8.9 × 10−2 ± 0.020 mg/g DW), total phenolic content (stem extract; 4930.956 ± 16.025 mg GAE/g DE), and total flavonoid content (stem extract; 209.984 ± 0.572 mg QE/g DE). Moreover, this study also found that the highest antioxidant potential against 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2-Azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radicals was exhibited by samples supplemented with food waste compost (T3), followed by palm kernel biochar (T2). This indicates that the soil amendments have the capacity to enhance the secondary metabolites that protect plants, therefore ameliorating Melastoma malabathricum L.’s response towards acidic stress, and resulting in better antioxidant properties. Furthermore, this study also recorded better nutrient uptake in T3. With the significantly higher levels of macronutrient in the soil, the food waste compost could enhance the nutrient properties, secondary metabolites, and antioxidant capacity of Melastoma malabathricum L. grown in acidic soil conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds: A Bio-Agent for Plant Protection)
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11 pages, 1361 KiB  
Article
Selective Extraction of Bioactive Phenylethanoids from Digitalis obscura
by José Francisco Quílez del Moral, Álvaro Pérez, María José Segura Navarro, Alberto Galisteo, Azucena Gonzalez-Coloma, María Fe Andrés and Alejandro F. Barrero
Plants 2021, 10(5), 959; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10050959 - 12 May 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2268
Abstract
Cardenolide-free extracts from Digitalis obscura showed significant antifeedant effects against the aphid Myzus persicae and this activity correlated with their phenylethanoid content. The content in phenylethanoids of Digitalis obscura has been studied. Maceration of the aerial parts of D. obscura was used for [...] Read more.
Cardenolide-free extracts from Digitalis obscura showed significant antifeedant effects against the aphid Myzus persicae and this activity correlated with their phenylethanoid content. The content in phenylethanoids of Digitalis obscura has been studied. Maceration of the aerial parts of D. obscura was used for the selective extraction of the natural compound rengyolone (1) and the aglycone of cornoside (compound 3). Pure rengyolone (1) can be obtained from D. obscura in approximately 90% purity from fresh plant from the CHCl3 soluble fraction of the ethanolic extract (0.8% yield). The ethanol extraction of freshly collected D. obscura showed the presence of compound 3 as the only phenylethanoid. Compound 3 was proven to easily evolve to rengyolone. Due to this instability, and although its presence in plants has been previously reported, the spectroscopical data of 3 are reported herein for the first time. Selective mono-acetylation of compound of 3 led to the active natural compound hallerone (5). The aphid antifeedant (against Myzus persicae) and nematicidal (against root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica) activities of these compounds have been evaluated. Here we report for the first time on the aphid antifeedant effects of 1, 3, and 5. Additionally, the nematicidal activity of hallerone (5) is described here for the first time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds: A Bio-Agent for Plant Protection)
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14 pages, 831 KiB  
Article
Sesquiterpene Lactones from Artemisia absinthium. Biotransformation and Rearrangement of the Insect Antifeedant 3α-hydroxypelenolide
by Braulio M. Fraga, Carmen E. Díaz, María Bailén and Azucena González-Coloma
Plants 2021, 10(5), 891; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10050891 - 28 Apr 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2259
Abstract
Three new compounds, the sesquiterpenes absilactone and hansonlactone and the acetophenone derivative ajenjol, have been isolated from a cultivated variety of Artemisia absinthium. In addition, the major lactone isolated, 3α-hydroxypelenolide, was biotransformed by the fungus Mucor plumbeus affording the corresponding 1β, 10α-epoxide. [...] Read more.
Three new compounds, the sesquiterpenes absilactone and hansonlactone and the acetophenone derivative ajenjol, have been isolated from a cultivated variety of Artemisia absinthium. In addition, the major lactone isolated, 3α-hydroxypelenolide, was biotransformed by the fungus Mucor plumbeus affording the corresponding 1β, 10α-epoxide. A cadinane derivative was formed by an acid rearrangement produced in the culture medium, but not by the enzymatic system of the fungus. Furthermore, 3α-hydroxypelenolide showed strong antifeedant effects against Leptinotarsa decemlineata and cytotoxic activity to Sf9 insect cells, while the biotransformed compounds showed antifeedant postingestive effects against Spodoptera littoralis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds: A Bio-Agent for Plant Protection)
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10 pages, 628 KiB  
Review
Direct and Indirect Effects of Essential Oils for Sustainable Crop Protection
by Sabrina Kesraoui, Maria Fe Andrés, Marta Berrocal-Lobo, Serine Soudani and Azucena Gonzalez-Coloma
Plants 2022, 11(16), 2144; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11162144 - 18 Aug 2022
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 2457
Abstract
Plant essential oils (EOs) are gaining interest as biopesticides for crop protection. EOs have been recognized as important ingredients of plant protection products including insecticidal, acaricidal, fungicidal, and nematicidal agents. Considering the growing importance of EOs as active ingredients, the domestication and cultivation [...] Read more.
Plant essential oils (EOs) are gaining interest as biopesticides for crop protection. EOs have been recognized as important ingredients of plant protection products including insecticidal, acaricidal, fungicidal, and nematicidal agents. Considering the growing importance of EOs as active ingredients, the domestication and cultivation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) to produce chemically stable EOs contributes to species conservation, provides the sustainability of production, and decreases the variations in the active ingredients. In addition to these direct effects on plant pests and diseases, EOs can induce plant defenses (priming effects) resulting in better protection. This aspect is of relevance considering that the EU framework aims to achieve the sustainable use of new plant protection products (PPPs), and since 2020, the use of contaminant PPPs has been prohibited. In this paper, we review the most updated information on the direct plant protection effects of EOs, focusing on their modes of action against insects, fungi, and nematodes, as well as the information available on EOs with plant defense priming effects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds: A Bio-Agent for Plant Protection)
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