Chemical study of insect-plant interactions: a contribution to biorational control of crop pests
Lead Research Organisation:
Keele University
Department Name: Faculty of Natural Sciences
Abstract
New solutions for managing insect pests are urgently needed due to evolution of resistance to current insecticides. This project focuses on development and bioactivity testing of novel nanotech formulations of plant secondary metabolites that could provide new options for crop protection. The Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) group has strong preliminary data showing that nanotech formulations of certain plant flavonoids complexed with Mg (II) substantially reduce growth of insects. Preliminary experiments done by the Keele University (KU) group with PAA (poly(allylamine)) nanotech formulations of essential oils have shown highly significant repellent action, with greatly enhanced activity compared to conventionally formulated material. UK-Brazil collaboration would provide an ideal opportunity to strengthen this new and promising area of research. The project includes Workshops and exchange visits to build a research network between the groups. Both groups will share expertise and work together to create novel nanotech formulations of plant secondary metabolites (flavonoids such as Hesperidin and Naringenin, phenolic acids and essential oils). Parallel experiments will be conducted testing activity against selected insects, chosen due to their relevance to Brazilian agriculture and insecticide resistance challenges. Bioassays with Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, and peach-potato aphid, Myzus persicae, will be conducted at KU; with whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, at São Paulo State University (UNESP), and with fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda at UFSCar. Antibiotic, antifeedant and repellent activity will be tested for using established methods. The experiments conducted in the pump-priming project will reveal the potential for use of nanotechnology to improve the formulation of plant secondary metabolites for use against insects. The project will benefit from the expertise in the KU School of Pharmacy Co-I who has considerable expertise in development of nanotech formulations for the medical sector. We will consider the extent to which low cost technologies already developed for medicines can be translated into the agricultural field. In addition to the programme of empirical research, we will also conduct a literature review of the area and submit this to a high quality scientific journal as a contribution to knowledge. We think there is considerable potential for cross-fertilisation between the disciplines involved in the project (chemistry, medicine and entomology). This has potential to allow agricultural formulation technology to "leapfrog" into nanotechnology by using approaches already developed for Medicine. Furthermore, there will, of course, be insights gained by sharing insights with the Brazilian scientists who are at the forefront of the development of nanotechnology for crop protection. The project has considerable potential to generate much needed new tools for managing insect pests of crops.
The project will allow us to test the hypothesis that bioactivity of plant secondary metabolites can be enhanced by delivery via novel nanotech formulations.
The project will allow us to test the hypothesis that bioactivity of plant secondary metabolites can be enhanced by delivery via novel nanotech formulations.
Planned Impact
Who might benefit from this research?
The research would benefit the farmers and the farming industry by developing new tools for managing pests. Currently, crop protection products are being lost to resistance or changes in legislation at a far faster rate than new treatments are being developed. This means that farmers urgently need new solutions. Insect pests cause annual losses of US$17.7 billion to the Brazilian economy with average annual losses estimated at 7.7% of total crop production. The insect species focussed on by the project (Western flower thrips, peach-potato aphid, silverleaf whitefly and fall armyworm) are chosen due to their relevance to Brazilian agriculture and insecticide resistance challenges.
How might they benefit from this research?
The pump-priming project is designed to meet a real need for innovation in crop protection by exploring how nanotechnology may enhance the bioactivity of plant secondary metabolites. We envisage that the project will make an excellent contribution to the development of new approaches for crop protection that are based on plant secondary metabolites delivered through novel nanotech formulations. The farmers would obtain the new tools and there would be a business opportunity for agricultural companies interested in manufacturing the new products.
Although it is a relatively small pump-priming project, it will address a generic challenge in agriculture: crop varieties that were bred for yield and test often lack the secondary metabolites wild plants use for protection against pests or diseases. By providing a mechanism for delivering bioactive plant secondary metabolites, in a controlled way, the project would help to reduce the vulnerability of crops to attacking pests.
The research would benefit the farmers and the farming industry by developing new tools for managing pests. Currently, crop protection products are being lost to resistance or changes in legislation at a far faster rate than new treatments are being developed. This means that farmers urgently need new solutions. Insect pests cause annual losses of US$17.7 billion to the Brazilian economy with average annual losses estimated at 7.7% of total crop production. The insect species focussed on by the project (Western flower thrips, peach-potato aphid, silverleaf whitefly and fall armyworm) are chosen due to their relevance to Brazilian agriculture and insecticide resistance challenges.
How might they benefit from this research?
The pump-priming project is designed to meet a real need for innovation in crop protection by exploring how nanotechnology may enhance the bioactivity of plant secondary metabolites. We envisage that the project will make an excellent contribution to the development of new approaches for crop protection that are based on plant secondary metabolites delivered through novel nanotech formulations. The farmers would obtain the new tools and there would be a business opportunity for agricultural companies interested in manufacturing the new products.
Although it is a relatively small pump-priming project, it will address a generic challenge in agriculture: crop varieties that were bred for yield and test often lack the secondary metabolites wild plants use for protection against pests or diseases. By providing a mechanism for delivering bioactive plant secondary metabolites, in a controlled way, the project would help to reduce the vulnerability of crops to attacking pests.
Publications
Da Silva D
(2022)
Valorization of Hesperidin from Citrus Residues: Evaluation of Microwave-As
in Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society
Pereira KC
(2018)
Characterization of Nanospheres Containing Zanthoxylum riedelianum Fruit Essential Oil and Their Insecticidal and Deterrent Activities against Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae).
in Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)
Storkey J
(2019)
Agroecosystem Diversity
| Description | Our collaborative research is geared towards providing novel tools to manage insect pests of crops. In particular, we are testing the hypothesis that performance of plant secondary metabolites against pests can be enhanced by nanoformulation or by preparing complexes of molecules. A strong three-way collaboration between Keele (UK), UFSCar (Brazil) and UNESP (Brazil) was initiated by the pump-priming project that has already delivered: • Two productive joint research workshops (UFSCar, May 2018; Keele, October 2018) • Scientific progress both in delivery systems and bioactivity testing of phytochemical formulations • A postgraduate course on insect pest management (26 students at UFSCar, May 2018) • Three postdoc exchanges (> I month each) scheduled during remainder of Stage 1 • Transfer of technology between groups and from medicine/pharmacy to the agricultural field. Experimental data were gathered between the two workshops: Novel nanoformulations and complexes of molecules were created at the Keele School of Pharmacy and at UFSCar. Bioassays were conducted at all three research organisations. Scientific progress in delivery systems for phytochemicals: • Nanoformulation and complexes were shown to solve low solubility issues • Longevity of release increased and phytotoxicity alleviated by PAA (poly(allylamine)) nanoformulation • Systemic uptake by plants with root drench treatment (nanoformulation and complex) • Biodegradable nanoformulations created (chitosan-cholesteryl) Scientific progress in testing bioactivity of formulations against major crop pests relevant to Brazil: • Bioassays were developed and optimised for aphids (Myzus persicae), thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis), whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) and fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) • We tested PAA nanoformulations of 9 essential oils and 6 pure phytochemcials for activity against insects. Of these, peppermint and garlic were the best performing essential oils and allyl disulphide the best performing pure compound. Peppermint and garlic essential oils also significantly reduced F. occidentalis survival (P < 0.001), causing over 90% mortality. The active component in garlic oil was shown to be allyl disulphide. • Reproduction of M. persicae was reduced to near zero with peppermint, garlic and allyl disulphide PAA nanoformulations. • Hesperidin and isovanillic acid complexes were tested and performed well against S. frugiperda and B. tabaci but phenanthroline was required for antibiotic activity because free hesperidin and isovanillic acid were not active. • We reviewed promising compounds in the literature and sourced 25 pure compounds and now have data on their biological activity against aphids. Our shared vision is to develop novel formulations that add phytochemicals from non-host plants to crops to protect them from pests. The underpinning hypothesis, emerging from the first workshop, was that our formulations could provide a means to "outsource" defensive phytochemicals. Herbivore insects are more likely to be susceptible to the defensive chemistry produced by plants on which they have not evolved because they are adapted only to the metabolites produced by the plants on which they have evolved. Our approach is to develop new ways (nanoformulations and complexes) of applying defensive metabolites from other plant species to crops. |
| Exploitation Route | The stage 2 project will continue to make progress with formulation development and bioassay-guided optimisation of active ingredients. It will also conduct environmental and target specificity assessment. Our concept of using phytochemicals that have evolved for plant defence has some similarity with breeding crops for resistance but our approach is different because it can use phytochemicals which are outside the metabolome available in the gene pool of inbred crops and thus provides access to metabolites that crop pests have not evolved with. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Creative Economy,Education,Environment,Security and Diplomacy |
| Description | Under consideration by commercial companies |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Creative Economy,Environment,Security and Diplomacy |
| Description | Novel botanical formulations for treatment of virus vectors |
| Amount | £30,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | GCRF Connected Virus network (pump-priming awards) |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| End | 03/2020 |
| Description | Novel delivery of phytochemicals for sustainable crop protection |
| Amount | £244,535 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/S018948/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| End | 04/2021 |
| Description | Novel delivery of phytochemicals for sustainable crop protection (BB/S018948/1) |
| Amount | £302,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/S018948/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2019 |
| End | 04/2021 |
| Title | olfactometeR |
| Description | Developed an R package for recording insect behaviour in olfactometer bioassay experiments. This tool is largely designed to replace outdated or expensive software packages. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | It is difficult to gauge notable impacts at this stage due to still being in beta testing. |
| URL | https://github.com/Dr-Joe-Roberts/olfactometeR |
| Description | Harper Adams University |
| Organisation | Harper Adams University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Sharing of facilities and expertise |
| Collaborator Contribution | Sharing of facilities and expertise |
| Impact | We have applied for a new £5M collaborative research centre and have been invited to a stage two application that we are currently waiting for the decision on (Research England E3 initiative) We have an existing joint research project, BB/R021708/1, "Biological crop protection: a new 'slow down/speed up' strategy for aphid management" |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) |
| Organisation | International Institute of Tropical Agriculture |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Sharing expertise and new treatments for use against insect pests |
| Collaborator Contribution | Testing of novel material against insects in Tanzania and Nigeria |
| Impact | Connected Virus GCRF pump-priming project |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Novel botanical formulations for treatment of virus vectors |
| Organisation | International Institute of Tropical Agriculture |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Exploration of whether the nanoformulations we are developing work against whitefly, aphid and spider mite pests in Africa |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration facilitated by CONNECTED Virus GCRF network |
| Impact | There are some promising preliminary results: a nano formulation of one of the essential oils substantially reduced spider mite egg laying and increased mortality. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Sao Paulo State University (UNESP, Brazil) |
| Organisation | Sao Paulo State University |
| Country | Brazil |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are providing test material for testing against insect pests as novel control treatments |
| Collaborator Contribution | Information about susceptibility of whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) and fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) to novel phytochemical treatments |
| Impact | Stage 2 BBSRC Newton Fund award |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar, Brazil) |
| Organisation | Federal University of Sao Carlos |
| Country | Brazil |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | There is strong synergy between partners in this collaboration. The plant product formulation expertise at UFSCar is different from, but complimentary to, the medical expertise at the School of Pharmacy at Keele, bringing both metallo-complexing and nanoformulation technologies to be incorporated into this project, which increases the chances of success. |
| Collaborator Contribution | There is strong synergy between partners in this collaboration. The plant product formulation expertise at UFSCar is different from, but complimentary to, the medical expertise at the School of Pharmacy at Keele, bringing both metallo-complexing and nanoformulation technologies to be incorporated into this project, which increases the chances of success. |
| Impact | Stage 2 Newton Fund award |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | AAB conference - Bringing Biocontrol and IPM to Market |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Over the last decade, the AAB "Advances in Biocontrol and IPM" Conference has become a popular fixture in the national calendar of events. The overall objective has been to create an annual gathering of the IPM community at which policy makers, experienced researchers, early career scientists and practitioners can detach themselves from their usual day-to-day pressures and become totally immersed in this important subject. To broaden its appeal still further, we will continue with a hybrid format to enable both in-person delegates at our regular conference venue and those who prefer to join us online. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.aab.org.uk/event/bringing-biocontrol-and-ipm-to-market/ |
| Description | Association of Applied Biologists: Advances in IPM conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Organised and chaired Association of Applied Biologists: Advances in IPM conference Organised and chaired |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Biopesticide Summit, Swansea, 2-3 July 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave a keynote, invited talk: "The role of science and technology in addressing challenges to food security and biodiversity" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://biopesticidesummit.com |
| Description | CONGRATULATIONS TO PROFESSOR TOBY BRUCE'S GROUP |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Keele Website |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.keele.ac.uk/lifesci/news/2018/november/congratulationstoprofessortobybrucesgroup/food-se... |
| Description | Chemical Ecology Postgraduate Course |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Course of lectures in chemical ecology together with brainstorming future research, and student activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Innovate UK Biopesticides event, Invited plenary lecture, London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Innovate UK Biopesticides event, Invited plenary lecture, London, 12 April 2018 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | International Congress of Entomology (Helsinki, Finland) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave two invited talks at the leading international conference for Entomology |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.icecouncil.org/upcoming-congress |
| Description | Invited Seminar at Newcastle University (3 April 2019) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited Seminar at Newcastle University |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Invited Seminar at University of Warwick (2 May 2019) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited Seminar at University of Warwick (2 May 2019) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Lecture on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Delivered a lecture on integrated pest management and these projects were used as examples to demonstrate the cutting edge research being done in crop protection. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019,2020 |
| Description | Lecture to General Public |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Gave an hour long presentation on exploiting chemical ecology to produce healthy crops for the general public at a local museum's science communication event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | News Item in The Guardian |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | News Article about pesticides and crop protection in The Guardian |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/14/miniature-robots-could-cut-pesticide-use-on-farm... |
| Description | News Item: Scientists search for sustainable solutions to stop the fall armyworm |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | News Article in Africa News (a multilingual news media service, headquartered in Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.africanews.com/2018/09/05/scientists-search-for-sustainable-solutions-to-stop-the-fall-ar... |
| Description | News item in Farmers Weekly |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Interview with Johann Tasker about appearance before Commons Science and Technology Committee in Parliament and subsequent article in Farmers Weekly |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/crop-management/politicians-face-critical-choice-on-food-security-warns... |
| Description | News item: Experts warn against spread of fall armyworm |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | News item in eNCA ( |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.enca.com/news/experts-warn-against-spread-fall-armyworm |
| Description | Postgraduate short course on plant protection (Brazil) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A 3 day postgraduate short course on Plant Protection at UNESP, Brazil, February 2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Reuters VIDEO: Scientists search for sustainable solutions to stop the fall armyworm |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Reuters filmed interview and online broadcast |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.reuters.com/video/2018/08/29/scientists-search-for-sustainable-soluti?videoId=459280539&... |
| Description | The Future of Crop Protection |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On November 1st, 2022, 140 professionals from the horticultural industry met at the World Horti Center to discuss the innovations that are needed to make crop protection future-proof. By 2030, the EU wants the use of plant protection products to be halved. The central topic of the day was: what needs to be done to deal with this challenge? What should companies, research institutes, and other organisations in the horticultural industry do to turn this upcoming demand into an opportunity? I gave an invited keynote talk and took part in discussions at this event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://impact2025.nl/en/event/the-future-of-crop-protection/ |
| Description | UK Vector Borne Diseases conference, John Innes Centre, 4 Dec 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave a talk at UK Vector Borne Diseases conference, John Innes Centre, 4 Dec 2018 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | World BioProtection Summit - invited lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Gave a talk about "Innovation in crop protection: challenges and opportunities" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.worldbioprotectionforum.com/bioprotection-summit-and-awards-2022/ |
| Description | postgraduate short course on insect pest management |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A postgraduate short course on insect pest management (26 students at UFSCar, Brazil, May 2018) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |