Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
June 29, 2016
Synthetic auxin herbicides have played an important role in weed management for decades with a highly effective yet complex mode of action. Dow AgroSciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), collaborated with the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, to discover unique attributes of this important class of herbicides. Findings were recently shared at the International Weed Science Congress in Prague as well as the International Conference on Plant Growth Substances in Toronto.
The research highlighted receptor-binding uniqueness of Dow AgroSciences’ new arylpicolinate herbicides, including Arylex™ active and Rinskor™ active, compared to other commercial auxin herbicides. Richard Napier, Ph.D., plant signaling expert and professor in the School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, was the key cooperator who identified these unique differences. The way auxin herbicides bind to receptors in plant cells alters plant growth in susceptible species, leading to weed control.
“Since the 1950s, Dow AgroSciences has successfully launched a number of synthetic auxin herbicides that provide weed control solutions to farmers globally,” said Daniel R. Kittle, Ph.D., vice president, Research and Development, Dow AgroSciences. “The collaboration with Dr. Napier provides important insights into the fundamental interaction between plants and our newest innovations in auxin herbicides.”
“There is one natural auxin which controls plant growth. There are also many synthetic auxins and these work as herbicides by overpowering the natural system. Our recent work with Dow AgroSciences has shown that not all auxins are equal,” said Napier. “The new arylpicolinates prioritise a different target site than both the natural auxin, and other auxin herbicides, and they bind to this site with high affinity.”
Arylex and Rinskor are the first members of the new arylpicolinate class of auxin herbicides and are effective new tools for managing weed resistance at low use rates while providing favorable environmental fate, toxicological and ecotoxicological profiles.
About Dow AgroSciences
Dow AgroSciences discovers, develops, and brings to market crop protection and plant biotechnology solutions for the growing world. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, Dow AgroSciences is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company and had annual global sales of $6.4 billion in 2015. Learn more at www.dowagro.com. Follow Dow AgroSciences on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+, or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.
About the University of Warwick and the School of Life Sciences
The University of Warwick is a global research-led university in the heart of the UK. The School of Life Sciences is an international centre of excellence with more than 80 percent of research rated as 'world leading or internationally excellent' in the latest 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise. REF is a ranking exercise implemented by the UK government to assess the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. Learn more at www.warwick.ac.uk/lifesci
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