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© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

An increasing human population necessitates more food production, yet current techniques in agriculture, such as chemical pesticide use, have negative impacts on the ecosystems and strong public opposition. Alternatives to synthetic pesticides should be safe for humans, the environment, and be sustainable. Extremely diverse ecological niches and millions of years of competition have shaped the genomes of algae to produce a myriad of substances that may serve humans in various biotechnological areas. Among the thousands of described algal species, only a small number have been investigated for valuable metabolites, yet these revealed the potential of algal metabolites as bio-pesticides. This review focuses on macroalgae and microalgae (including cyanobacteria) and their extracts or purified compounds, that have proven to be effective antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, nematocides, insecticides, herbicides, and plant growth stimulants. Moreover, the mechanisms of action of the majority of these metabolites against plant pests are thoroughly discussed. The available information demonstrated herbicidal activities via inhibition of photosynthesis, antimicrobial activities via induction of plant defense responses, inhibition of quorum sensing and blocking virus entry, and insecticidal activities via neurotoxicity. The discovery of antimetabolites also seems to hold great potential as one recent example showed antimicrobial and herbicidal properties. Algae, especially microalgae, represent a vast untapped resource for discovering novel and safe biopesticide compounds.

Details

Title
Algae and Their Metabolites as Potential Bio-Pesticides
Author
Elias Asimakis 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Shehata, Awad A 2 ; Eisenreich, Wolfgang 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Acheuk, Fatma 4 ; Lasram, Salma 5 ; Basiouni, Shereen 6 ; Emekci, Mevlüt 7 ; Ntougias, Spyridon 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Taner, Gökçe 9   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; May-Simera, Helen 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Yilmaz, Mete 9 ; Tsiamis, George 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Laboratory of Systems Microbiology and Applied Genomics, Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Patras, 2 Seferi St., 30131 Agrinio, Greece; [email protected] 
 Research and Development Section, PerNaturam GmbH, 56290 Gödenroth, Germany; [email protected] 
 Bavarian NMR Center—Structural Membrane Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, Technische Universität München, 85748 Garching, Germany; [email protected] 
 Laboratory for Valorization and Conservation of Biological Resources, Faculty of Sciences, University M’Hamed Bougara of Boumerdes, Boumerdes 35000, Algeria; [email protected] 
 Laboratory of Molecular Physiology of Plants, Borj-Cedria Biotechnology Center. BP. 901, Hammam-Lif 2050, Tunisia; [email protected] 
 Institute of Molecular Physiology, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany; [email protected] (S.B.); [email protected] (H.M.-S.) 
 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Ankara University, Keçiören, Ankara 06135, Turkey; [email protected] 
 Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Vas. Sofias 12, 67132 Xanthi, Greece; [email protected] 
 Department of Bioengineering, Bursa Technical University, Bursa 16310, Turkey; [email protected] 
First page
307
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20762607
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2633027241
Copyright
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.