The Rural Voice, 2000-06, Page 11Scrap Book
New biopesticide
triggers plant's
natural defences
A biopesticide has been
licensed in the United States that
triggers a plant's natural ability to
fight off fungal pests such as
fusarium and sheath blight and
insects such as beet armyworm.
The active ingredient in
Messenger is harpin, a protein
found in fire blight, a disease that
attacks apple and pear trees.
"Treating plants with the harpin
protein signals the plant to turn on
its natural defense systems," said
Steven V. Beer, one of the Cornell
University professors who, in
1991, discovered the protein and
its effects on plants.
Eden Bioscience of Bothwell,
Washington, is promoting
Messenger mainly on cotton, fruits
and vegetables, but the company
also says it can protect wheat. The
product is not licenced in Canada
but the company says it plans to
seek Canadian approval in the near
future.
Spraying Messenger onto the
leaves causes the affected cells to
collapse around what they perceive
to be bacteria attacking the plant,
resulting in a natural method of
controlling infection. The plants
then become hypersensitive to
other bacterial and insect attacks
and react immediately to
pathogens rather than waiting to
respond.
Eden Bioscience also claims
Messenger induces earlier
germination. and emergence,
accelerated early growth, maturity
and increased overall yield. The
company said the results were
tracked in more than 500 field
trials on 45 crops in four countries.
Company officials say
resistance worries are reduced
because the harpin protein doesn't
directly affect pests and only starts
natural defensive responses in the
plants. Eden is pursuing organic
certification for the product in the
U.S.o
— Source: Western Producer
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JUNE 2000 7