CA2193874A1 - Aminoethoxyvinylglycine in combination with mepiquat chloride - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are compositions and methods of improving a plant growth factor. The compositions and methods contain combinations of aminoethoxyvinylglycine and mepiquat chloride. The compositions provide an improvement in a plant growth factor, such as an increase in yield in cotton plant.

Description

- . 219387~

~MINO~-THOXWII~YL~ N~ JN ~ME~INATI~lN WlT~ PI~lJ~5T ~tlLD~U:)~

~o FIF~I ~ OF T~F INVGI~TION
The pr~sent invelltion i~ rsl~ted ~en~r~lly to the field of agriculture ancl spe~ifically to compositic~ns ~nd u~e of plant ~ro~Arth regulators.

B~C~K~ OUl~ O~ INVENTION
Agrïculture v~orkers ~ctively s~ek w~ys to irnprove the economic output of ~nmmer~i~l crops. For exarnple, in cotton crops, workers seek to imp~ove su~h yr~w~h f~tors ~s in~re~sed boll set, increa~ed flor~l initiation, decre~e~ floral ~b~ission in~re~sed germinatioll, decreased boll absçission, and enhance~ root g~wth. Workers also seek to incre~se plant tolera~ce to en~ironrnenta~ stres~.
Formulations containing plant growth regulators (Pl~ s) h~ve been ~evelo~ed to improve the economic yield of agricultural plants. Plant growth retardants and inhibitots of ethylene ~iosynthesis or ~ction are two types of PC~Rs. Some plant ~rowth retard~nt~ have bee~ shown to inhibit ~ibberellin biosynthesis resulting in the reductior c)f shoot hei~ht in sm~ll grains and cotton. This reduction in shoot height llas ~ strong 2~ econon~ enefit since it provide~ fcr lecs lodgin~ in small grains and re~iuction of exce~ive vegeta~ive growth. It ~Iso provides mor~ ~Iniforln lipenin~ in cottor~.Three groups of ~ibberellin bio~yntnesis inhii~itor~ are known. The fir~t gr~Jp encompa~ses c~n~pounds with quaterna~ ammonium, phosphoniurn or sulphonium moieties. One example o~ a compouncl from this group is mepiquat chloride, described 30 in U.S. Patent No. 3,905,79g and incorporatçd herein by reference. Miepiquat chloride may increase cO~t~n yi~l~s, ~ll lo~d, lint y~eld ~nd s~ed yield. E~lepiclu~t ~:hloride is al60 known to reduce veg~t~tive growth, plan~ hei~ht ~nd boll rot. Mepiquat ~hloride al50 ind-Jces uniform ripeness iF th~ pl~nts ~re treated e~rly duriny th~ir developn~ent.
~hloro~nequ~t chloride is also a representative c:ompound of thi~ group.
s The seoond g~ol~p of plar~t ~row~h retardants encompa~ses compoun~s with a nitrogen containing heterocy~l~ su~:h ~s flurprimidol, pa~lo~utrazol, uni~ona~ole ~nd an~ymidol.
The thi~ group encon~pa~se~ acylcylc~hexanediones (such as trinexapaGethyl and prohexadione~ ) ancl darninu~ide.
1~ is known that ethylene is invul~red in pl;~nt senes~n~ and pl~nt stress reactions. Ethyîen~ is also involved in leaf, flower, and fruit ab~cissio~. Henoe, ~ents that inhibit or regul~te the production of ethylene in plants or ~ontrol itx action have been developed in an effort to improve the yield of agri~ultural crops. Inllibitors of ethylene bios~ esis include ~ubstitute~ oxime-ethers as ~escribed in U.S P~tent No.
4,744,~11, Incorporated herçin by reference~ These ~ompo~nds ~re also des¢ribed in PCT Application W0 ~-02211, incorpor~ted her~in by reference, as being soil ~mendm~nt comp~sition~ that incre~se the assimil~tion of nitro~en by higher piant6.
~ther inhibitors of ethylene ~iosynthesi~ ~ncl action incl~lde ~rninoethoxyvinyl~lycine ("AVG"). aminooxy~etic acid (IAOA"), rhi20bitoxir~e, ~nd methoxyvirlyl glycine ("MVG"). Sih/er ions (~ 9. silver thiosulf~te), and ~,5-norbornadiene inhibit ethylene acti~n.
Plant growth re~ulators haYe also ~een use~ to protect crops ~rom th~ ~ffect~ ofenvironmental ~tress. ~,i~nfagna, T.J. et ~I. "Mode of Action ~nd Use of Growth F;~e~ardants in Reduçing the Effect~ of Environment~l Stress on Horti~ultural l~rop~.
~s Karssen, C.N. ef ~I. (e~S.~ Progress in Plant ~irow~h Reg~lat;on, pp. 77~-87 (19g2) For example, res~ar~hers found fhat if ethephon was appiied ~3t ~ low r~te (0.08 mM) it significantly delayed bloom ~n peach and re~uced side ~fects. Resear~hers also found that eth~phon increased the yields ~nd har~iness of se~/er~l holticultural plants.

. .

.
Al~hou~ PGRs h~ve be~n d~v~lop~d as a me~ns to improve ~gric;ultur~i crop yield~, ce~ain obst~cles mak~ th~ ~çtu~i us~ of Pl~;Rs prohibitive. For ex~r~ple, many of the compounds ~isplay phytotoxicity Other compounds are difficult to synthesi~e Many compounds ~quire hi~h rate ~pplic~tions to be effective. For ex~mple, .s PC,r ~pplica~ion WO 93/07747, incorpol-ated herein by reference, describzs arirnprovement in ~ plant ~rowth f~tor by applying aminoethoxyvinyigly~lne ~"AV~i"), a~r inhi~itor vf ethylen~ biosynthesis, to cotton pl~rlt~. A~ the r~te of AVG tl~atrnent increased, so ~id the improvernent. (WO ~3/07747, Examples 2-4). Assurning that a spr~y volume of 500 llh~ was used, the rate~ of applic~tion described in WO 93/07747 ~o ~ould be appr~ximately 62.~ to 500 grams acti~e ingredi~nUhectar~ (g la/ha). The maximum r~te response ocours at th~ highest rates.
High rate ~ppli~tions rnay result in a ~ignific~nt waste of materi~l and rn~y r~ult in the disch~rge of the PGRs into the surrounding environment. Also, ~Ith~ugh many o~
these compound~ may induke a beneficial gro~hth habit, they do not provide con~isten~
IS i~provement in plant grow~h facto~. Oth~r ~on~pour~ds may lose their ~ffeoti~fene~s or cau~e a redu~ion in yield v~lhen ~pplied to species which are ~nder some ~orm ofenvi~nmental stress.
~ hus, it is an object of the inventicn to forrnulate ~ P~;R composition that improves a plant gro Nth fi~ctor, such as yi~ld, in cotton.
~0 .SUMMAR~ ~F T~E INVENTION
P~vided herein is a method o~ improvin~ at least one plant growth factor in a plant comprisin~ administerin~ to the plant an eff~ctive amount of ~ mixture of mepiquat çhloride ancl aminoethoxyvinyl~lycine. Th~ method is ~:a~ried o~t preferably in c,otton.
2s Also provicled h~rein is a compo~ition comp~-ising amin~ethoxyvinylglyçin~ ~nd rnepiquat chlori~e in ar~ am~unt effective to increase the yield of cotton wherein such in~a3e is greater than ~he cornbined total inc~ease of pl~n~s treated with ~minovinylglycine alone ~nd mepiquat chloride alone as compared t~ untre~t~cl plants.
~n impr~vernent in a plant s~rowth factor is defined as an a~ronomic 30 improvement of pl~nt growth sueh as increased floral (s~uare) initi~tion, increased , . 219387~

fl~w~r ~t~ntibn~ in~sed fruit te~ention, ift~r~ased ~qu~r~ r~ntion, increas~d boil retention, in~re~sed root grou~th, de~r~sed internode length, increase~ stress tolerance, ~ecreased wilting, deoreased senescence, ~rker green pigmentation, incre~sed germil1ation r~te, incresdsed tolerance to low temperatures, and incre~ed 5 crop yield. rhat is, ~ favnrable alteration of the physi~logy or grow~h of piants or an in~rease or d~rease in plant growth which le~ds to an economi~ or a~ronomic ber~efit.
Improv~ment in ~rowth factors that result frorn the inhibition of ethylen~ production is preferred.
The methods and cornposition~ as ~mbodied by the combir~ed tre~tment with l0 AVG an~ mepiquat chloride pr~vi~e surprising an~ unexpected results over both pl~nts treated witl~ ~VG ~lone and over plants treated with mepiquat ~hioride alone.

C~FTAlLED l:)E~SCl~lPT~ON C)F THE INVENTION
The method and composition of the present in~ention are best carrled out at ~ppllcation rates wh~rein the A~/~ is ~pplied at rates of greater th~rl 12 g/h~.Preferal~ly, the AV~3 is applied a rate ~e~ter th~n 12 glha, in~luding the ran~e from abo~lt 1~ ~Iha to a~bo~t 101 ~/ha. In another embodiment o~ the invention, the AVG i~
appliecl at a r~te grea~er than abotlt 31 ~Jha, incluciing the range of about 31 ~Jh~ to about 100 g/ha, mo~t prefer~bly the AV~; is applied at a rate ~rea~er tharl or e~ual t~
~o abo~t 101 ylha.
The mepiquat chloride is preferably applied at r~tes of from abou~ 12 glha llp to at~out 2001 rnost preferably al a~out 1~ gJha.
An effe~tive number of applications c~n ~e made throughoùt th~ g~owirlg ~eason Preferably, the ~pplication is perFormed from one to ab~ut ten times d~lrin~ th~
~s growing se~son, most prefer~bly from one to ~bout four times during th~ growin~
sea60n. The AVt3 and mepiquat chlorid~ m~y ~e ~pplied in com~ination or as singl~
appiications by nletho~s known in the ~rt.
Other rates us~ful f~r car~ying-out ~he inv~ntion may be developed using this specitication and routine optimization.

., 2193874 Th~ pr~ser,t in~ ntion fincl~ its b~ re~?ults in c~tton. Preferred ~c?rmul~tions of the invention include those ~rmul~tions t~at prcvide AV~ in an effective amoun~ ~o obtain consistent improven1erlt in a plant growth factor, th~t is, those formuiations that pr~vide statist;c~lly sio?nific~nt improvemerlt (e.g., wher~ P~0.15 or less) when compared to untreated plants wherein the improvement is obtained more than ~bout50~/O of the time, pr~f~r~bly more than ~?0% of the time, more pref~r~ly more than 75%
of the time ~nd mo~t prefer~bly more lhan gO% of the time.
Th~ formulations described in this invention are generally appli~d tc the f~liag~
pricr to bud ~nd flower development but they ~n also be ~pplied to the folia~e, buds, IU flower~, or bolls beginning at e~rly bud developm~nt (e.n?., matched squ~re i~ cotton) in one to four ~equential ~pplic~tions. If g~qllential ~pplications ar¢ used, application~ are prefe~bly timed ~t ~pproximately 10 to 14 days apart. When appli~d by spraying, th~
active ingredient is gener~lly mixed with w~ter ~ rrier ~olu~ion in ~ dilution suffioient to cover the are~. Typi~lly? the spray volume of the ~uecus treatmentlS solution would be about 150 to ~ llha for ar~ rops and ~p to a~out 1,500 I/ha for fruits tress. ~;oil drenching is another method of applic~tion that is useful when practicing the invention.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method which improve~ the e~onomic or agronomic output of a3ricultural crops and decreases the amourlt of ~o material that needs to be used to obtain improvement in a plant growth ~ctor.
The follbwing example is illustrative only ~nd is not me~nt to limit the inverltion in ~ny manner.

EXPE~IMEN1 1 T~hni~l grade AVG (~5%~ was provide~ by Abt~ott L~bora~ori~. A 4.2~h aqueous liquid formulation of PIX~ (rnepiq~at chloride) w as used in the trials. A V G
w~ ~pplie~ ~lone or in combination with 1~ g ai/ha PIX~ mepiquat chloride plant ~rowth regulator at rates of 6, 1~, 31, and 100 9 ai/ha ~ ntreated plants we~e ~ed as a control Tre~tment timing be~an at match-head (size) square and contir~ued every 10-,, ,_ 2l9387~

14 days thereafter for a total of t~ur sequenti~l ~ppli~tions. Plot~ were 6 rows wl~e by 40 ft. Iong ~nd th~ tre~tments were repli~ate~ four tin~es. In 3 trials, ten plants per plot were destructively sampled and mapped twioe during the season. The first mappingwas conducted approximately 1~-14 clays afterthe second tre~tment and the seoonds m~ppin~ was condueted prior to harvest. In 2 trial~, orlly tl-e pre-h~r~est m~ppiny was ~onducted. The cçnter two rows oF ea~h pl~t were h~ ested, and seed ~o~on yieldsre~o~ed. A t~t~l of 5 trials were ~ondu~ted. One trial was moisture-stressed.
The combination of 100 g ai/ha AV(~; + mepiq~at chloride significantly increasedthe yield by 30% in one tri~l, and by 11% (non-signi~lçant) in ~n~ther. AV~ showed an 10 improvement in yieid (1 %) ~t a rate o~ 31 9 ai/h~. A yield dec~ease was recorded in one tria! where AVG was applied alone at ~ g ai/ha. No other significant yield differences were ob~ained in the remaining trials. Yield data are sumn~rized in the attached table.

219387~

'rABLE 1 P~V~lnllepi~uat Chloride Cntton Trials - ~ield Dat~ ~rom 5 Trials Relativ~ Yi~ld ~;:ompare~l to Relative Yi~ld Compared to PIX
mepiquat~hloride (%) Untreated (%) alone .
Rate (9 ai/h~) ~ 12 31 100 6 1Z 31 100 Loc:at;nn NorthCarolina 1 4 1 11 4 ~4 1 3 -4 Louisiana 1~ ~ 7 30 2 11 5 4 -15 Califotnia (1) ~ o -~ -15 -3 -~7 ~2~ -1 -3 -6 -2 -18 -10 -~0 -10 -10 Mis$i~$ippi ~ 3 -3 -4 5 5 Sum 5 -6 13 41 -3~ -18 -33 -11 -41 Count 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Mean RelativeYield 1 -1 3 8 -7 -4 -7 -2 -8 ~o/o) Freq. Posi~ives 2 7. 4 3 2 1 :~ 2 ~O Freq. Pos. 40% 40% 80% 60% 40% 2~% 40% 40% 20%

In thls ~tudy, AVG and mepiqu~t chl4ride applied alone provided no yield bene~itat all rate~. No yield benefit was n~te~ under moistu~e-stresse~ con~itions. However, c~mbinations of AVG and mepiqu~t ~hloride provided in~reased yield as the appli~tion rate of AVG ~s incre~se~ to 31 9 ai/ha ~nd greater. Alhough the combination 10 ~omposition, proYi~ed the gre~test yialcl bensfit (+8% over mepiq~at ~hloride) when A~l~; wa~ ~ppli~ t ~ rate of 100 g ai/ha, the frequency of positive yield data was great~r in the plants treated with the combination composition at a rate of 31 g ai/h~.
The flrst m~ppiny d~ta from th~ î~lorth C~rolina site sho~,ved ~n in~reas~ in fruitiny structures and retention in the plants treated with 100 ~ ai/h~ AVC', applied ~lone 2I9387~
~, (not significant, p-0.06), but th~ ~me rate corni~ine~ with mepiquat chloride tended to de~r~ase the nun~ber of fruiting ~tru~tures. Also, a decrease (p~0.05) in the number of fruiting branche~ ~t the No~th C~rolina ~ite was ob~er~ed after tre~tment with the conl~in~tion of AV~ and mepi~uat chloride ~100 g ai/h~ AVG). Lower rate 5 ~om~inations (6 and 12 9 ~i/ha ~VG) tended to incre~se retentic~n over pl~ntç tre~ted with mepiquat alone,~ alone. A de~re~se in pbnt hei~ht with the combin~tiorl (100 y ~i/ha AV~) w:~s observed in one trial.
In ~he second ~n~ppin~. ~ signifi~nt increase in open b~lls w~s obtained with 31gi/ha AV~ applied ~lone in one tri~l. No significant effects ~rom AVG alone or in combination with PIX~ wer~ noted in the sewnd ~nappings of the remaining tri~l~
Some incre~ses wer~ not~ in ~etention of fruiting struc~ures, but these were notconsistent among th~ trials.
The invention ~as ber~n des~ribed with refe~ence to v~rious specific embodiments. However, many vari~tions ~nd modific;ations may ije made while 15 remairlir~g within the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims (8)

1. A method improving at least one plant growth factor in a plant comprising administering to the plant an effective mixture of mepiquat chloride and aminoethoxyvinylglycine.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the plant is cotton.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the aminoethoxyvinylglycine is applied at a rate greater than 12 g/ha.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the aminoethoxyvinylglycine is applied at a rate ranging from about 12 g/ha to about 100 g/ha.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the aminoethoxyvinylglycine is applied at a rate greater than 31 g/ha.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the aminoethoxyvinylglycine is applied at a rate ranging from about 31 g/ha to about 100.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein the aminoethoxyvinylglycine is applied at a rate greater than or equal to 101 g/ha.

8. A composition comprising aminoethoxyvinylglycine and mepiquat chloride in an amount effective to increase the yield of cotton wherein the yield is higher than the yield of the plants treated with mepiquat chloride and aminoethoxyvinylglycine alone when compared to untreated cotton plants.