Novartis Finance Corporation

Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc.

Syngenta Investment Corporation

Novartis Ag

Helmut Kessmann

Wilhelm Ruess

Gertrude Knauf-Beiter

Ruth Beatrice Kung

Scott Joseph Uknes

John A Ryals

Leslie B Friedrich

Ruth Beatrice K&uuml;ng

Harald Danigel

Michael Oostendorp

Gerhard Klokow

Peter Obergfell

J&ouml;rg Mentzen

Eric R Ward

Thomas D Gaffney

Bernardus T Vernooij

Gertrud Knauf-Beiter

Antonio Molina-Fernandez

In a testing system for chemical substances or substance mixtures, especially for potential plant protection compositions, the chemical substance to be tested or the substance mixture to be tested is applied to a test specimen, especially to plants or parts of plants. When a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the test specimen is examined for the activity of the substance or substance mixture. For this purpose, first of all a type of test specimen is selected from a stock of test specimens, and the substances to be tested are selected from a stock of substances to be tested. The selected type of test specimen and the selected substances are identified (BC , BC ) by means of a machine-readable code and those codes are supplied to a memory unit ( ). The test specimens are placed in readiness in a carrier plate ( ), for which purpose each test specimen or a section (BR) of test specimen is deposited in a well ( ) that is provided in the carrier plate ( ) and that is partly filled with a nutrient solution ( ). Then a spraying device ( ) is inserted into the well ( ) of the carrier plate ( ) and sprays the test specimen deposited therein with the selected substance and is then removed from the well ( ) again or the spraying device is positioned immediately above the well ( ) of the carrier plate ( ) and sprays the test specimen deposited therein with the selected substance.

Testing system for chemical substances or substance mixtures

Crop protection products

In a testing system for chemical substances or substance mixtures, especially for potential plant protection compositions, the chemical substance to be tested or the substance mixture to be tested is applied to a test specimen, especially to plants or parts of plants. When a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the test specimen is examined for the activity of the substance or substance mixture. For this purpose, first of all a type of test specimen is selected from a stock of test specimens, and the substances to be tested are selected from a stock of substances to be tested. The selected type of test specimen and the selected substances are identified (BC,, BC,) with a machine-readable code and those codes are supplied to a memory unit (,). The test specimens are placed in readiness in a carrier plate (,), for which purpose each test specimen or a section (BR) of test specimen is deposited in a well (,) that is provided in the carrier plate (,) and that is partly filled with a nutrient solution (,). Then a spraying device (,) is inserted into the well (,) of the carrier plate (,) and sprays the test specimen deposited therein with the selected substance and is then removed from the well (,) again or the spraying device is positioned immediately above the well (,) of the carrier plate (,) and sprays the test specimen deposited therein with the selected substance.

Plant-protecting mixtures of active ingredients having a synergistically increased action, wherein component I is a compound having a plant-immunizing action of the formula I

Plant-protecting mixtures of active ingredients having a synergistically increased action, wherein component I is a compound having a plant-immunizing action of the formula I ##STR1## in which Z is CN, COOH or a salt thereof, CO--OC.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl or CO--SC.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl; and wherein component II is a compound selected from the group consisting of propiconazole, difenoconazole, penconazole, fenpropimorph, fenpropidine, cyprodinil, metalaxyl, R-metalaxyl and pyroquilon.

The present invention concerns a method of protecting plants from pathogen attack through synergistic disease resistance attained by applying a conventional microbicide to immunomodulated plants. Immunomodulated plants are those in which SAR is activated and are therefore referred to as 'SAR-on' plants. Immunomodulated plants may be provided in at least three different ways: by applying to plants a chemical inducer of SAR such as BTH, INA, or SA; through a selective breeding program based on constitutive expression of SAR genes and/or a disease-resistant phenotype; or by transforming plants with one or more SAR genes such as a functional form of the NIM1 gene. By concurrently applying a microbicide to an immunomodulated plant, disease resistance is unexpectedly synergistically enhanced; i.e., the level of disease resistance is greater than the expected additive levels of disease resistance.

Method for protecting plants

The present invention provides chemically regulatable DNA sequences capable of regulating transcription of an associated DNA sequence in plants or plant tissues, chimeric constructions containing such sequences, vectors containing such sequences and chimeric constructions, and transgenic plants and plant tissues containing these chimeric constructions. In one aspect, the chemically regulatable DNA sequences of the invention are derived from the 5' region of genes encoding pathogenisis-related (PR) proteins. The present invention also provides anti-pathogenic sequences derived from novel cDNAs coding for PR proteins which can be genetically engineered and transformed into plants to confer enhanced resistance to disease. Also provided is a method for the exogenous regulation of gene expression in plants, which comprises obtaining a plant incapable of regulating at least one gene or gene family, or at least one heterologous gene, due to the deactivation of at least one endogenous signal transduction cascade which regulates the gene in the plant, and applying a chemical regulator to the plant at a time when expression of the gene is desired. A novel signal peptide sequence and corresponding DNA coding sequence is also provided. Further provided are assays for the identification and isolation of additional chemically regulatable DNA sequences and cDNAs encoding PR proteins and assays for identifying chemicals capable of exogenously regulating the chemically regulatable DNA sequences of the invention.

Chemically regulatable and anti-pathogenic DNA sequences and uses thereof

Growing community of inventors

Lörrach, Germany

Helmut Kessmann