AgPlenus Ltd., a global leader in designing and developing novel sustainable crop protection products and a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd., today announced the breakthrough discovery of a novel Mode of Action active against Zymoseptoria tritici, the fungal pathogen responsible for Septoria tritici blotch, one of the most devastating diseases affecting wheat crops globally. Through extensive virtual screening of large compound libraries and subsequent experimental testing, the company has already identified promising compounds that effectively inhibit fungal growth.
Zymoseptoria tritici causes widespread STB, a main cause of global crop loss in wheat production. In Europe alone, over 70% of fungicides used in wheat are against Zymoseptoria tritici, supporting a market of more than 1.2 billion euros annually[1]. With the growing resistance of fungi to existing fungicide solutions, the need for a new MoA is crucial.
AgPlenus initially launched its Zymoseptoria program utilizing the advanced TargetSelector™ tool to identify target proteins that are essential for the fungus’ vitality. Subsequently, the company employed the PointHit™ tool to discover chemical molecules that inhibit these target proteins. The platform predicted a set of relevant molecules that were rigorously tested in two controlled environments: laboratory and greenhouse trials. Results from the greenhouse trials demonstrated the efficacy of these molecules in managing Zymoseptoria.
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With these encouraging preliminary results, the program is now moving into its next phase, which involves further optimization of the discovered molecules using the ActiveSearch™ tool. The aim is to enhance their performance and explore potential collaborations and further development to potentially generate a novel effective fungicide.
“I am encouraged by the results obtained by utilizing the various tools in ChemPass AI for Ag in our Zymoseptoria program and the progress the program has made,” said Dr. Dan Gelvan, CEO of AgPlenus. “With increasing fungicide resistance posing challenges to wheat yields worldwide, the identification of these novel targets is timely.”
The validation of this new MoA protein target, combined with the identification of fungicidally effective compounds active through the new MoA, strengthens AgPlenus‘ position at the forefront of developing novel crop-protection solutions. This advancement aligns with the company’s mission to provide innovative, sustainable solutions for crop protection.
SOURCE: PRNewswire