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Selective control of parasitic nematodes using bioactivated nematicides.

Andrew R BurnsRachel J BakerMegan KitnerJessica KnoxBrittany CookeJonathan R VolpattiAditya S VaidyaEmily PuumalaBruna M PalmeiraElizabeth M RedmanJamie SniderSagar MarwahSai W ChungMargaret H MacDonaldJens TiefenbachChun HuQi XiaoConstance A M FinneyHenry M KrauseSonya A MacParlandIgor StagljarJohn S GilleardLeah E CowenSusan L F MeyerSean R CutlerJames E DowlingMark LautensInga ZasadaPeter J Roy
Published in: Nature (2023)
Parasitic nematodes are a major threat to global food security, particularly as the world amasses 10 billion people amid limited arable land 1-4 . Most traditional nematicides have been banned owing to poor nematode selectivity, leaving farmers with inadequate means of pest control 4-12 . Here we use the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to identify a family of selective imidazothiazole nematicides, called selectivins, that undergo cytochrome-p450-mediated bioactivation in nematodes. At low parts-per-million concentrations, selectivins perform comparably well with commercial nematicides to control root infection by Meloidogyne incognita, a highly destructive plant-parasitic nematode. Tests against numerous phylogenetically diverse non-target systems demonstrate that selectivins are more nematode-selective than most marketed nematicides. Selectivins are first-in-class bioactivated nematode controls that provide efficacy and nematode selectivity.
Keyphrases
  • climate change
  • risk assessment
  • cell wall