Servicing pheromone trap for brinjal borer in Bangladesh © University of Greenwich

The Chemical Ecology and Plant Biochemistry Group carries out research in two complementary areas. The first concerns identification and use of naturally-produced chemicals for control of pests and diseases, particularly in developing countries. These include: pheromones and other semiochemicals for monitoring and control of crop and storage pests; host attractants for monitoring and control of vectors of disease in both plants and animals; and chemicals responsible for resistance of crops to pests and pathogens. The second theme concerns plant metabolic responses to environmental conditions metered at plant cell wall level by peroxidases.

Achievments

Major recent successes include development of mass-trapping with pheromone-baited traps to control brinjal borer, Leucinoides orbonalis, the key pest of eggplant in SE Asia. Similarly, previous research by the team on the pheromone of coffee white stemborer, Xylotrechus quadripes, has been taken forward in a project funded by the Common Fund for Commodities so that traps are now available commercially and are increasingly used to control this pest in India. As forecast, the team has been increasingly involved in work in the UK and the rest of Europe. In 2004, the team was awarded the Research and Development prize by the UK Worshipful Company of Fruiterers for its work on identification and use of apple leaf midge and raspberry cane midge pheromones, which has also been the subject of a successful patent application. Previous work on plant-based chemicals for control of insect pests of storage in Ghana has led to the winning of EC funds in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to investigate a much wider range of materials.

Using a stopped-flow spectrometer to isolate peroxidase catalytic intermediates and study their reactivity towards a wide range of reductants, the importance of redox mediators in catalysis has been highlighted and this has paved the way for an understanding of plant defence mechanisms that enable growth in unfavourable environmental conditions. This research is being applied in field trials (DTI-LINK funded) to remediate land contaminated with aged petroleum hydrocarbons. The trials centre on fungi specifically selected for their secretory peroxidase-redox mediator enzyme systems to catalyse oxidation of organic pollutants, and on plants with cell-wall peroxidase enzymes to support plant growth under adverse environmental conditions, whilst providing favourable rhizosphere conditions for bioremediation.

Future Plans

The team currently has funding (primarily through Defra-LINK) for research on semiochemicals for management of several horticultural pests in the UK. Work overseas will include research on cocoa pests in Africa and Asia. The team has started to investigate the use of plant-derived chemicals for sterilization of soil against Verticillium wilt by UK strawberry growers. The team is expanding its understanding of the interplay between peroxidase oxidation of plant secondary metabolites, and the role of this system in triggering oxidation and deleterious spoilage of plant oils for biodiesel production, in a new project on biodiesel from oilseed rape funded by the South East England Development Agency.

Staff

Dr Steve Belmain
Prof Alan Cork
Dudley Farman
Prof David Hall
Prof Pat Harvey
Dr Phil Stevenson
Dr Steve Torr

Recent Publications

Aslam, S.N., Stevenson, P.C., Kokubun, T. and Hall, D.R. (2007). Antimicrobial activity of cicerfuran, an antifungal arylbenzofuran from chickpea, some analogues and related stilbene synthesis intermediates. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents

Campbell, A.M., Tregidga, E.L., Hall, D.R., Ando, T. and Yamamoto, M. (2007). Sex pheromone of the currant pug moth Eupithecia assimilata, a re-emergent hop pest in England. Entomologia experimentalis et applicata 122: 265-269

Cork A., De Souza, K., Hall, D.R., Jones, O.T., Casagrande, E., Krishnaiah, K. and Zainulabeuddin, S. (2007). Development of PVC-resin controlled release formulation for pheromones and use in mating disruption of yellow rice stem borer, Scirpophaga incertulas. Crop Protection

Kestenholz, C., Stevenson, P.C., Belmain, S.R. (2007). Comparative study of field and laboratory evaluations of the ethnobotanical Cassia sophera L. (Leguminosae) for bioactivity against the storage pests Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) and Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Journal of Stored Products Research 43: 79-86.

Nguyen D.T., Hodges R.J. and Belmain S.R. (2008) Do walking Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) locate cereal hosts by chance? Journal of Stored Products Research 44: 90-99

Stevenson, P.C., Jayasekera, T and Veitch., N.C. (2007). Saponins from Securidaca longepedunculata with deterrent activity against storage insect pests. Phytochemistry

Stewart-Jones, A., Hodges, R.J., Farman, D.I. and Hall, D.R. (2007). Prey-specific kairomones exploited by of adult and larval Teretrius nigrescens: a behavioural comparison across different stored-product pests and different pest substrates. Journal of Stored Products Research 43: 265-275

Suckling,D.M., Walker, J.T.S., Shaw, P.W., Manning, L.-A., Lo, P., Wallis, R., Bell, V., Sandanayaka, W.R.M., Hall, D.R., Cross, J.V. and El-Sayed, A.M. (2007) Trapping Dasinuera mali (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in Apples. Journal of Economic Entomology 100: 745-751