Advantages
- This compound has high plant growth activity comparable to natural BRs and at the same time high stability.
- The compound is easy to synthesize.
Background and Technology
Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant growth hormones with a steroid skeleton, and more than 70 BRs have been discovered in nature. BRs play important roles in plant growth and development, mainly promoting cell elongation, division, refraction, xylem differentiation, and seed germination. However, BRs are difficult to extract, require more than 10 steps for synthesis, are expensive to synthesize, and have low metabolic stability, which has prevented their agricultural use. In addition, the use of easily synthesized BR nonsteroidal derivatives and BR signal pathway regulators reported in previous studies has been limited due to either low activity, toxicity, or low stability.
We have synthesized a novel derivative based on BRs with a non-steroidal structure. The derivative showed activity comparable to that of a natural BR (epibrassinolide/epiBL) in a rice laminar joint assay (see figure below). In addition, the derivatives are easy to synthesize and can be synthesized in only four steps.
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Reference
- Unpublished
Principal Investigator
Kenichiro ITAMI, Professor (Nagoya University Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules / ITbM)
Current Stage and Next Step
- Stable new compounds showing high plant growth activity comparable to BRs have been synthesized and their effects have been confirmed in rice lamina joint bending assay.
- Synthetic yields are being improved and further derivative development is under consideration.
- Seeking collaborative partners to develop plant growth regulators based on this technology.
- Available to provide additional information/small quantities of compounds by entering CDA/MTA for the purpose of initial evaluation/feasibility studies.
Project No. BK-04527