Cropsolution’s resources and expertise can help you discover and develop an agrochemical.  We are ready to help with Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Chemical Synthesis/Analoging, Library Screening or Biological Screening.  Please contact us and we can develop a special project for your company.

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Cropsolution’s Biochemistry and Molecular Biology team is located at our North Carolina site.  The NC site contains approximately 3000 sq. ft. of lab space and is well-equipped for modern research. The major equipment includes an LC system for protein purification, a quantitative pcr thermocycler, a phosphorimager, a plate-based scintillation counter, a spectrophotometer, a multi-detection plate reader, high speed centrifuges, incubators, growth chambers, and tissue culture hoods. The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology team’s major responsibilities include target identification, cloning, expression, purification, and characterization; EC selections; mode-of-action studies; assay development; and in vitro and in vivo characterization of leads.

Chemical synthesis
Six synthetic chemists and one analytical chemist comprise the chemistry group, located in Mountain View, CA.  Their primarily responsibilities include the design and synthesis of novel hits/leads, chemical library design, rehearsal and synthesis, and lead structure determination. The members of the synthetic chemistry group possess a combined total of over 80 years of agricultural chemical expertise, and have three commercial products to their credit. Analytical support is provided by an analytical chemist who has 20 years of experience. Her responsibilities include operation and maintenance of Cropsolution’s state-of-the-art analytical equipment for determining sample purity and elucidating chemical structure.  On site instrumentation includes LC/MS, LC/MS/MS, HPLC, Prep HPLC, and NMR.

Biological screening
Also at the Mountain View location is the biology group, whose primary function is the biological evaluation of compounds on both in vitro and in vivo targets. The two Cropsolution biologists have a combined 11 years of experience in crop protection agrochemical screening. The group has high throughput screening capabilities, with automated plate handling.  All screens are conducted in 96-well microtiter plates. In vivo plate screens have been developed for all three indications: insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides.

Four species of Lepidoptera are used in our insecticide screens: Spodoptera exigua (beet armyworm), Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm), Trichoplusia ni (cabbage looper), and Helicoverpa zea (tomato fruitworm). Six commercial insecticide standards are run concurrently with the experimental compounds as internal controls for assay sensitivity and insect response.  The standards are listed in Table 1.

Three species of plants are used in our herbicide screens: Arabidopsis thaliana, Agrostis sp. and Nicotinia tabacum (common tobacco). Symptomology observed includes growth inhibition, bleaching, leaf curling, and root growth inhibition. Six commercial herbicide standards are run concurrently with the experimental compounds as internal controls for assay sensitivity and plant response.  The standards are described in Table 2 with their biochemical mode of action.

We currently have the capability and are permitted by the federal government to screen a number of representative fungal pathogens from ascomycetes, basidiomycetes, deuteromycetes, and oomycetes. Our primary screen includes the following pathogens: Botrytis cinerea (grey mold), Phytophthora infestans (late blight), Stagnospora nodorum (glume blotch), Septoria tritici (leaf blotch), and Ustilago maydis (corn smut). At least six commercial fungicide standards are run concurrently with the experimental compounds as internal controls for assay sensitivity and pathogen response.  The standards are described in Table 3 with their biochemical mode of action.

Chemistry library
Cropsolution currently has a collection of over 110,000 compounds of diverse structure. About 40,000 of these were synthesized by Cropsolution chemists using both solution and solid phase synthetic methods. Scaffolds were designed and building blocks and their substituents were selected based on agrochemical considerations. Molecular weights of these compounds range from 250 to 500, and their octanol/water partition coefficients (clog P values) are less than 5. Functionality conducive to phloem transport in the plant, e.g., weak acids, has been incorporated into the design of some of these compounds in order to increase the opportunity for systemic activity. A number of in vivo active compounds have been identified from this part of the collection, affirming its general utility as a source of hits/leads. Two of these hits have resulted in compounds that demonstrate fungicidal or herbicidal activity in greenhouse evaluations. The remainder of the collection, about 70,000 compounds, was acquired from an outside source. These compounds were carefully selected to complement the 40,000 compound collection. Again, diversity of structure and favorable physicochemical properties for crop protection were important criteria in their selection.