Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01N—PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTS THEREOF; BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES OR AS HERBICIDES; PEST REPELLANTS OR ATTRACTANTS; PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS
  • A01N37/00—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators containing organic compounds containing a carbon atom having three bonds to hetero atoms with at the most two bonds to halogen, e.g. carboxylic acids
  • A01N37/10—Aromatic or araliphatic carboxylic acids, or thio analogues thereof; Derivatives thereof
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01N—PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTS THEREOF; BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES OR AS HERBICIDES; PEST REPELLANTS OR ATTRACTANTS; PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS
  • A01N25/00—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators, characterised by their forms, or by their non-active ingredients or by their methods of application, e.g. seed treatment or sequential application; Substances for reducing the noxious effect of the active ingredients to organisms other than pests
  • A01N25/32—Ingredients for reducing the noxious effect of the active substances to organisms other than pests, e.g. toxicity reducing compositions, self-destructing compositions
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01N—PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTS THEREOF; BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES OR AS HERBICIDES; PEST REPELLANTS OR ATTRACTANTS; PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS
  • A01N37/00—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators containing organic compounds containing a carbon atom having three bonds to hetero atoms with at the most two bonds to halogen, e.g. carboxylic acids
  • A01N37/44—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators containing organic compounds containing a carbon atom having three bonds to hetero atoms with at the most two bonds to halogen, e.g. carboxylic acids containing at least one carboxylic group or a thio analogue, or a derivative thereof, and a nitrogen atom attached to the same carbon skeleton by a single or double bond, this nitrogen atom not being a member of a derivative or of a thio analogue of a carboxylic group, e.g. amino-carboxylic acids
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01N—PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTS THEREOF; BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES OR AS HERBICIDES; PEST REPELLANTS OR ATTRACTANTS; PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS
  • A01N37/00—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators containing organic compounds containing a carbon atom having three bonds to hetero atoms with at the most two bonds to halogen, e.g. carboxylic acids
  • A01N37/44—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators containing organic compounds containing a carbon atom having three bonds to hetero atoms with at the most two bonds to halogen, e.g. carboxylic acids containing at least one carboxylic group or a thio analogue, or a derivative thereof, and a nitrogen atom attached to the same carbon skeleton by a single or double bond, this nitrogen atom not being a member of a derivative or of a thio analogue of a carboxylic group, e.g. amino-carboxylic acids
  • A01N37/48—Nitro-carboxylic acids; Derivatives thereof
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01N—PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTS THEREOF; BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES OR AS HERBICIDES; PEST REPELLANTS OR ATTRACTANTS; PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS
  • A01N43/00—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators containing heterocyclic compounds
  • A01N43/34—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators containing heterocyclic compounds having rings with one nitrogen atom as the only ring hetero atom
  • A01N43/36—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators containing heterocyclic compounds having rings with one nitrogen atom as the only ring hetero atom five-membered rings
  • A01N43/38—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators containing heterocyclic compounds having rings with one nitrogen atom as the only ring hetero atom five-membered rings condensed with carbocyclic rings

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of crop protection products. It is desirable to identify compounds which are capable of promoting the growth of plants, for example to increase the yield.
• the useful plants When controlling unwanted organisms in crop plant farming which are useful for agriculture or forestry by using pesticides (e.g. herbicides), the useful plants are frequently also damaged to some extent by the pesticides employed. This effect is encountered in particular with the use of a considerable number of herbicides in monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous crops of useful plants. In some instances, the useful plants can be protected against the undesired effects of the herbicides by employing safeners or antidotes, without diminishing the herbicidal activity against the harmful organisms. Only few commercial safeners for dicotyledonous crops have become known. Likewise, for a number of pesticides, hardly any safeners have been described.
• pesticides e.g. herbicides
• the inventors surprisingly found that certain benzoic acid derivatives possess plant growth- promoting activity. It was further found that benzoic acid derivatives can overcome adverse effects of a herbicide on plant growth.
• the present invention therefore relates to the following subject matter, defined in items (1 ) to (50).
• a method of regulating plant growth comprising applying to the plant a compound of Formula (I) or (II)
• n 0, 1 , 2, 3, 4 or 5
• X is -OR 3 or -CO-R 1 ,
• R 1 is -OR 3 , -NR 4 R 5 , halogen, or an aliphatic group
• each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of amino, nitro, cyano, halogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkinyl, alkylamino, alkenylamino, alkinylamino, alkoxy, sulfonylamino, alkylsulfonylamino, amino-alkyl, amino-alkenyl, amino-alkinyl, hydroxycarbonyl, aminocarbonyl,
• R 3 is hydrogen or an optionally substituted aliphatic group
• each of R 4 and R 5 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and optionally substituted alkyl; in particular wherein
• n 0, 1 , 2, 3, 4 or 5
• R 1 is -OR 3 , -NR 4 R 5 , halogen, or a hydrocarbon chain with 1 to 6 carbon atoms
• each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of amino, nitro, cyano, halogen, (C r C 6 )-alkyl, (C 2 -C 6 )-alkenyl, (C 2 -C 6 )-alkinyl, (C C e )-alkylamino, (C 2 -C 6 )- alkenylamino, (C 2 -C 6 )-alkinylamino, (C C 6 )-alkoxy, sulfonylamino, (C C 6 )- alkylsulfonylamino, amino-(C C 6 )-alkyl, amino-(C 2 -C 6 )-alkenyl, amino-(C 2 -C 6 )-alkinyl, hydroxycarbonyl, aminocarbonyl,
• R 3 is hydrogen or optionally substituted (C C 6 )-alkyl
• each of R 4 and R 5 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and optionally substituted (C C 6 )-alkyl.
• a method of promoting plant growth comprising applying to the plant a compound of Formula (I) or (II) or a salt thereof as defined in item (1 ).
• a method of improving the stress tolerance of a plant comprising applying to the plant a compound of Formula (I) or (II) or a salt thereof as defined in item (1 ). (6) The method item (5), wherein the stress tolerance is tolerance to one or more herbicides.
• each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of amino, cyano, and methyl.
• 21 The method of any one of items (1 ) to (15) and (18) to (20), wherein each R 2 is amino.
• An agrochemical composition comprising a compound of Formula (I) or (II) or a salt thereof as defined in any one of items (1 ) to (28).
• a plant safener composition comprising the compound of Formula (I) or (II) or a salt thereof as defined in any one of items (1 ) to (28).
• composition of item (40) or (41 ), comprising the compound of Formula (I) or (II) or a salt thereof at a concentration of 10 ⁇ to 10 mM.
• composition of item (42), comprising the compound of Formula (I) or (II) or a salt thereof at a concentration of 100 ⁇ to 1 mM.
• composition of item (43), comprising the compound of Formula (I) or (II) or a salt thereof at a concentration of 500 ⁇ to 1 mM.
• composition of any one of items (40) to (44), further comprising a herbicide (45) The composition of any one of items (40) to (44), further comprising a herbicide.
• composition of item (44), wherein the herbicide is selected from the group consisting of glyphosate, glufosinate, chlorophenoxyacetic acid, pethoxamide, amidosulfuron, sulfuronmethyl, imidazoline or others.
• a method of screening for plant growth-promoting compounds and/or plant safeners comprising providing a derivative of a compound of Formula (I) or (II) as defined in any one of items (1 ) to (28), and determining the plant growth promoting activity and/or the stress tolerance conferring activity of the derivative.
• FIG. 1 pABA promotes lateral root, adventitious root and root hairs development.
• A-B 10 day-old wild type Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. ectoype Columbia (Col-0), grown in presence or absence of 200 ⁇ pABA.
• A Root hairs, adventitious and lateral root development.
• B quantitation of lateral root development.
• C Lycopersicum esculentum (tomato) grown in presence or absence of pABA.
• White arrows indicate adventitious roots, black arrows indicate lateral roots.
• Asterisk (*) indicates significant difference t>95%.
• Asterisk (*) indicates significant difference t>95%.
• FIG. 4 Visualization of tissue specific production and metabolization of para-aminobenzoic acid (pABA).
• pABA para-aminobenzoic acid
• A Folate pathway with pABA synthesis by GAT-ADCS (*), esterification by UGT75B (**) and fusion to pterin by HPPK-DHPS (***).
• B Schematic representation of pABA.
• C Tissue expression of GAT-ADCS and HPPK-DHPS in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. GAT-ADCS and HPPK-DHPS are coexpressed in the same tissues.
• D GAT- ADCS and HPPK-DHPS expression in the root tip. Left, for short time staining (30 min), GAT-ADCS was expressed in columella and lateral root cap cells (#).
• GAT-ADCS When stained for longer time (3h), GAT-ADCS expression domain is extended to epidermal (white *) and cortex (black *) cells. Right, HPPK-DHPS promoter activity. HPPK-DHPS promoter activity globally matches GAT-ADCS promoter expression pattern.
• A pGAT-ADCS::GUS signal in pollen grains.
• B GAT-ADCS expression in female gametophyte.
• C GAT-ADCS expression in seed with embryo at beginning of globular stage.
• D Enlargement of boxed area in C. Note endosperm-derived GUS signal (*) surrounding the embryo.
• E GAT-ADCS expression in seed with embryo at late globular stage. Note drastic reduction of GAT-ADCS expression in endosperm, while GUS signal has appeared in embryo.
• F Enlargement of boxed area in E.
• G GAT-ADCS expression in seed with embryo at heart stage.
• H Enlargement of boxed area in G.
• FIG. 1 Characterization of GAT-ADCS.
• A GAT-ADCS (At2g28880) gene model (6.5 kb) including promoter, UTR, introns, exons and T-DNA insertions.
• B T-DNA insertion in adcs2 mutant shown by PCR.
• C Abnormal seeds (*) in opened siliques in adcs2.
• D Seeds ratio indicating wild-type (WT)-like and defective seeds in adcs2.
• E Globular stage arrest of adcs2 embryos (arrowed).
• FIG. 8 Homozygous adcs2 rescue experiment with pABA.
• A adcs2 opened silique incubated on ppABA supplemented medium.
• B Embryo development and germination 3 weeks later.
• C One week after germination, difference in growth become apparent (left WT, right adcs knockout).
• A 20 ⁇ estradiol (EST20) induction results in down regulation of GAT-ADCS expression.
• Figure 10 Regulation of plant growth by exogenous application of pABA.
• A Root growth of 6 day-old Arabidopsis thaliana in presence of increasing concentrations of pABA. Root growth is repressed by pABA.
• B Arabidopsis seedlings growing on AM, 100 ⁇ pABA and 100 ⁇ 5-FTHF supplemented media.
• C Percentage of emerged adventitious (AR) and lateral (LR) roots on AM, pABA and 5-FTHF supplemented media.
• pABA induces development of LR and AR.
• D Stimulation of root hair elongation by pABA.
• E Quantification of root hair size. pABA treatment increases root hair length.
• FIG. 11 Quantification of free pABA and pABA-Gluc in Arabidopsis seedlings.
• A pABA in WT.
• B pABA in ugt75B mutant.
• C pABA in non-induced Lex::UGT75B.
• D pABA in Lex::UGT75B seedlings induced with 1 ⁇ estradiol. With estradiol concentration higher than 1 ⁇ the growth is limited and it is difficult to get enough plant material for pABA determinations.
• Each value is the average of three independent experiments ⁇ SD. The asterisk indicates a significant difference from control by Student's test (p ⁇ 0.01 ).
• FIG. 12 GAT-ADCS, HPPK-DHPS and UGT75B expression domains in Arabidopsis root tip.
• A GAT-ADCS
• B HPPK-DHPS expression pattern.
• C UGT75B expression pattern.
• UGT75B::3xYFP is expressed in whole root tip except in the stele, columella cells and the QC.
• D Close-up of root presented in C.
• Figure 13 Impact of pABA-conjugation on root development.
• A-B Quantification of adventitious root (AR) and root length of ugt75b mutant and WT in presence of pABA.
• AR adventitious root
• B root length.
• ugt75b roots are more sensitive to pABA.
• C Induction of Lex::UGTB75B with EST followed by RT-PCR.
• D Severe root growth defects after strong induction of Lex::UGTB75B with 20 ⁇ EST.
• E Root growth phenotype upon weak induction of Lex::UGTB75B with 0.1 ⁇ EST in presence of 200 ⁇ pABA and 200 ⁇ 5-FTHF. pABA rescues effects of over expressed Lex::UGTB75B but not 5-FTHF.
• Figure 14 Impact of pABA conjugation on root development. Arabidopsis seedlings growing for 9 days in presence of 20 ⁇ EST.
• A Strong EST induction ofLex::UGTB75B results in severe root growth defects which can be only partially rescued by 400 ⁇ pABA and very poorly by 5-FTHF applied at the same concentration.
• FIG. 16 Auxin response in root tips of pDR5.:GL/SandLex::L/GT75S transgenic plants.
• A- B pDR5::GUS plants displaying typical auxin maximum in QC and columella cells.
• A Mock (AM+ethanol) treated pDR5::GUS plants.
• B pDR5;;GL/Splants transferred for 48 hours to growth medium supplemented with 5 ⁇ EST.
• C-D pDR5::GUS in Lex::UGT75B transgenic plants.
• C Non induced and (D) after induction with 5 ⁇ EST. Note ectopic DR5 signal in LRC initials (arrowed).
• Figure 17 Safener activity of pABA on Arabidospsis thaliana seedlings grown in presence of inhibitory concentrations of auxins showing antagonism of pABA with auxins. Lower panel: quantification of root length and structures of molecules used (Example 5).
• FIG 20 Confirmation of safener activity of pABA (Example 6).
• Arabidopsis thaliana Auxin reporter DR5::GFP plants incubated in presence of 1 ⁇ IAA, 100 ⁇ PABA, 10 ⁇ NPA applied either separately or in combinations.
• A Seedlings grown in presence of chemicals.
• B Quantification of root length of seedlings presented in (A).
• C Visualization of DR5::GFP signal from root tips of plant presented in (A).
• aliphatic group includes saturated or unsaturated, branched or unbranched aliphatic monovalent or bivalent groups.
• aliphatic group is intended to include, but is not limited to, alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl, and alkinyl groups.
• the aliphatic group has 1 to 100, preferably 1 to 42 carbon atoms, preferably 1 to 22 carbon atoms, more preferred 1 to 15 carbon atoms, further preferred 1 to 10 carbon atoms, even more preferred 1 to 6 carbon atoms, for instance 1 , 2, 3 or 4 carbon atoms.
• the aliphatic group is Ci_ 6 -alkyl, e.g.
• Aliphatic groups as used herein include heteroaliphatic groups in which one or more carbon atoms have been substituted with a heteroatom, for instance, with an oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus or silicon atom, wherein the nitrogen and sulfur atoms may optionally be oxidized, and the nitrogen heteroatom may optionally be quaternized.
• the heteroatom(s) O, N and S may be placed at any interior position of the heteroaliphatic group.
• a heteroaliphatic group may be linear or branched, and saturated or unsaturated.
• alkyl used is the present application relates a saturated branched or unbranched aliphatic monovalent substituent.
• the alkyl group has 1 to 100 carbon atoms, more preferred 1 to 22 carbon atoms, further preferred 1 to 10 carbon atoms, yet more preferred 1 to 6 carbon atoms, even more preferred 1 to 3 carbon atoms.
• examples of the alky] group include methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, sec- butyl, terf-butyl, n-pentyl and n-hexyl and preferable examples include methyl, ethyl, n-propyl and isopropyl, whereby ethyl and isopropyl are particularly preferred.
• cycloalkyl refers to a monocyclic, bicyclic, or tricyclic group, which may be saturated or partially saturated, i.e. possesses one or more double bonds.
• Monocyclic groups are exemplified by a saturated cyclic hydrocarbon group containing from 3 to 8 carbon atoms. Examples of monocyclic cycloalkyl groups include cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclopentenyl, cyclohexyl, cyclohexenyl, cycloheptyl and cyclooctyl.
• Bicyclic fused cycloalkyl groups are exemplified by a cycloalkyl ring fused to another cycloalkyl ring.
• bicyclic cycloalkyl groups include, but are not limited to decalin, 1 ,2,3,7,8,8a-hexahydro-naphthalene, and the like.
• Tricyclic cycloalkyl groups are exemplified by a cycloalkyl bicyclic fused ring fused to an additional cycloalkyl group.
• alkenyl as used is the present application is an unsaturated branched or unbranched aliphatic monovalent group having at least one double bond between two adjacent carbon atoms.
• the alkenyl group has 2 to 6 carbon atoms, more preferred 2 to 4 carbon atoms.
• examples of the alkenyl group include but are not limited to ethenyl, 1 -propenyl, 2-propenyl, methylvinyl, 1-butenyl, 2-butenyl, 3-butenyl, 2- methyl-1 -propenyl, 2-methyl-2-propenyl, 2-pentenyl, 2-hexenyl.
• Preferable examples of the alkenyl group include ethenyl, 1 -propenyl and 2-propenyl, whereby ethenyl is particularly preferred.
• alkenyl includes alkadienyl groups having two double bonds.
• the alkadienyl group has 4 to 10 carbon atoms.
• examples of the alkadienyl group include but are not limited to 2,4-pentadienyl, 2,4-hexadienyl, 4-methyl-2,4- pentadienyl, 2,4-heptadienyl, 2,6-heptadienyl, 3-methyl-2,4-hexadienyl, 2,6-octadienyl, 3- methyl-2,6-heptadienyl, 2-methyl-2,4-heptadienyl, 2,8-nonadienyl, 3-methyl-2,6-octadienyl, 2,6-decadienyl, 2,9-decadienyl and 3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienyl groups, whereby 2,4- pentadienyl is particularly preferred.
• alkinyl as used is the present application is an unsaturated branched or unbranched aliphatic monovalent group having at least one triple bond between two adjacent carbon atoms.
• the alkinyl group has 2 to 6 carbon atoms, more preferred 2 to 4 carbon atoms.
• Examples of the alkinyl group include but are not limited to ethinyl, 1-propinyl, 1-butinyl, 2-butinyl, 1-pentinyl, 2-pentinyl, 3-pentinyl and 2-hexinyl.
• Preferable examples of the alkenylene group include ethinyl, 1 -propinyl and 2-propinyl, whereby ethinyl is particularly preferred.
• halo and halogen refer to a halogen atom selected from the group consisting of F, CI, Br and I.
• the halogen atom is CI or Br, whereby CI is particularly preferred.
• halogenated alkyi group refers to an alkyi groups as defined above which is substituted with at least one halogen atom.
• the halogenated alkyi group is perhalogenated.
• the halogenated alkyi group is a univalent perfluorated group of formula C n F 2n +i .
• the halogenated alkyi group has 1 to 6 carbon atoms, even more preferred 1 to 3 carbon atoms.
• examples of the alkyi group include trifluoromethyl, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl, n-perfluoropropyl, n-perfluorobutyl and n-perfluoropentyl.
• Preferable examples of halogenated alkyi groups include trifluoromethyl and 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl, whereby trifluoromethyl is particularly preferred.
• the pK a value is equal to -log 10 K a , wherein K a is the dissociation constant which defines the ratio of the concentrations of the dissociated ions and the undissociated acid:
• pK a for a compound
• Some compounds include more than one acidic hydrogen and therefore have more than a single pK a value.
• the relevant and referred to pK a is the highest pK a of a compound. If the compound is a compound of Formula (I) wherein R is OH, then the pK a value preferably refers to the pK a value of the carboxylic group -CO-R 1 . If the compound is a compound of Formula (II) wherein X is COOH, then the pK a value preferably refers to the pK a value of the carboxylic group X.
• 'safener' refers to compounds which compensate for, or reduce, the phytotoxic properties of a pesticide (e.g. a herbicide) toward useful plants without essentially reducing the herbicidal action against harmful plants.
• a pesticide e.g. a herbicide
• the present invention relates to a method of promoting the growth of a plant and/or improving the stress tolerance of a plant.
• the method preferably comprises applying to the plant a compound of Formula (II)
• n O, 1 , 2, 3, 4 or 5
• X is -OR 3 or -CO-R 1 ,
• R 1 is -OR 3 , -NR 4 R 5 , halogen, or an aliphatic group
• each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of amino, nitro, cyano, halogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkinyl, alkylamino, alkenylamino, alkinylamino, alkoxy, sulfonylamino, alkylsulfonylamino, amino-alkyl, amino-alkenyl, amino-alkinyl, hydroxycarbonyl, aminocarbonyl, halogenated alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl,
• R 3 is hydrogen or an optionally substituted aliphatic group
• each of R 4 and R 5 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and optionally substituted alkyl.
• the compound is a compound of Formula (I)
• n, R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 and R 5 are defined as above for Formula (II).
• n may be 0, 1 , 2, 3, 4 or 5.
• n is selected from 0, 1 , 2, 3, and 4; more preferably n is selected from 0, 1 , 2, and 3; still more preferably, n is selected from 0, 1 , and 2; most preferably n is 1 .
• Group X of formula (II) can be -OR 3 or -CO-R 1 .
• group X is -CO-R 1 , as indicated in Formula (I).
• R 1 is typically selected from the group consisting of -OR 3 , -NR R 5 , halogen, and an aliphatic group.
• R 1 is -OR 3 .
• R 3 can be hydrogen or an optionally substituted aliphatic group.
• R 3 is hydrogen or an optionally substituted alkyl group; more preferably, R 3 is hydrogen or an optionally substituted C C 6 alkyl group. Still more preferably, R 3 is hydrogen or C C 6 alkyl.
• R 3 is hydrogen. Accordingly, group X most preferably is -COOH.
• Group R 2 is, for each occurrence of R 2 , independently selected from the group consisting of amino, nitro, cyano, halogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkinyl, alkylamino, alkenylamino, alkinylamino, alkoxy, sulfonylamino, alkylsulfonylamino, amino-alkyl, amino-alkenyl, amino-alkinyl, hydroxycarbonyl, aminocarbonyl, halogenated alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl.
• group R 2 is selected from the group consisting of amino, nitro, cyano, halogen, (C 1 -C 6 )-alkyl, (C 2 -C 6 )-alkenyl, (C 2 -C 6 )-alkinyl, (C -alkylamino, (C 2 -C 6 )-alkenylamino, (C 2 - C 6 )-alkinylamino, (C C 6 )-alkoxy, sulfonylamino, (C C 6 )-alkylsulfonylamino, amino-(C C 6 )- alkyl, amino-(C 2 -C 6 )-alkenyl, amino-(C 2 -C 6 )-alkinyl, hydroxycarbonyl, aminocarbonyl.
• group R 2 is selected from alkyl, amino and aminoalkyl; still more preferably, group R 2 is selected from amino and C C 6 alkyl, e.g. methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n- butyl, fe/f-butyl etc. Most preferably, group R 2 is amino.
• the compound of the invention comprises at least one substituent R 2 in para position (position 4 of the phenyl ring), e.g. the compound 4-aminobenzoic acid.
• the compound of the invention comprises at least one substituent R 2 in meta position (position 3 of the phenyl ring), e.g. the compound 3-amino benzoic acid.
• the compound of the invention comprises at least one substituent R 2 in ortho position (position 2 of the phenyl ring), e.g. the compound 2-amino benzoic acid.
• n is 1 and group R 2 is bound to the phenyl ring in para position. In another embodiment, n is 1 and group R 2 is bound to the phenyl ring in meta- or ort o- position.
• n is 2 and each of the two groups R 2 is bound to the phenyl ring in /nefa-position (positions 3 and 5 of the phenyl ring).
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (III) OH
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (IV) (IV) or a salt thereof, wherein R 2 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (V) (V) or a salt thereof, wherein R 2 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (VI) (VI) or a salt thereof, wherein R 2 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (VII) (VII) or a salt thereof, wherein R 2 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (VIII) (VIII) or a salt thereof, wherein R 2 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (IX) (IX) or a salt thereof, wherein R 1 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (X) x
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XI) rr CH3 (XI) or a salt thereof, wherein R 1 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XII) (XII) or a salt thereof, wherein R 1 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XIII) (XIII) or a salt thereof, wherein R 1 has the same meaning as defined above,
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XIV) (XIV) or a salt thereof, wherein R 1 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XV) (XV) or a salt thereof, wherein R 1 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XVI) (XVI) or a salt thereof, wherein R 1 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XVII) (XVII) or a salt thereof, wherein R 1 has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XVIII) (XVIII) or a salt thereof, wherein n and R have the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XIX) (xix) or a salt thereof, wherein n and R 1 have the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XX) (XX) or a salt thereof, wherein X has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XXI) (XXI) or a salt thereof, wherein X has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XXII) (XXII) or a salt thereof, wherein X has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XXIII) (XXIII) or a salt thereof, wherein X has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XXIV) (XXIV) or a salt thereof, wherein X has the same meaning as defined above.
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XXV)
• the compound of the invention is a compound of Formula (XXVI) (XXVI) or a salt thereof, wherein X and n have the same meaning as defined above.
• the compounds of the invention have at least one acidic hydrogen atom which can dissociate as H + in dependence of the pH.
• the compound in accordance with this invention has a pK a value of at least 4.0, preferably of at least 4.25, more preferably of at least 4.5, still more preferably of at least 4.75, most preferably of at least 5.0.
• the pK a value ranges from 4.0 to 10.0, preferably from 4.5 to 8.0, most preferably from 5.0 to 7.0.
• Examplary compounds of the invention include, but are not limited to, the following compounds and salts thereof:
• 2-lsopropylbenzoic acid 3-lsopropylbenzoic acid; 4-lsopropylbenzoic acid; 3,5-Di- isopropylbenzoic acid;
• Further active compounds of the invention include 4-Nitrophenol, 3-Nitrophenol, 2-Nitrophenol, Ascorbic acid, Dimedon, Meldrums acid, Dinitropyrazol, 3-Nitro-1 ,2,4-triazol, Benzotriazol, Acetylsalicylic acid, Chlorothiazide, Chloroazepine acid, Cyclobutane carboxylic acid, Cyclohexandion-1 ,3, Diclofenac, Piperonylic acid, 2,3-dihydro-1 ,4-benzodioxine-6-carboxylic acid (4442-54-0), 1 ,2,3,4- tetrahydro-6-quinolinecarboxylic acid (5382-49-0), 4-morpholinobenzoic acid (7470-38-4), 4- (1 H-imidazol-1 -yl)benzoic acid (17616-04-5), Isonipecotic acid, 4-pyridyl
• Another aspect of the invention is the use of a compound as defined herein as a plant growth promotor.
• the invention also provides a method for protecting crop plants or useful plants against phytotoxic actions of agrochemicals, such as herbicides, which method comprises using compounds of the formula (I) or (II) or salts thereof as safeners, preferably by applying an effective amount of the compounds of the formula (I) or (II) or salts thereof to the plants, to parts of plants or seeds thereof.
• the compounds of the formula (I) or (II) according to the invention or salts thereof can be applied simultaneously with the active compounds or in any order, and they are then capable of reducing or completely eliminating harmful side effects of these active compounds in crop plants, without negatively affecting or substantially reducing the activity of these active compounds against unwanted harmful organisms.
• damage caused by using a plurality of herbicides, insecticides or fungicides, or herbicides in combination with insecticides or fungicides can be reduced substantially or eliminated completely. In this manner, it is possible to extend the field of use of conventional pesticides considerably.
• compositions according to the invention comprise herbicides
• these compositions are, after appropriate dilution, applied either directly to the area under cultivation, to the already germinated harmful and/or useful plants or to the already emerged harmful and/or useful plants.
• these compositions can be employed by the tank mix method (i.e. the user mixes and dilutes the separately available products (the herbicide and the safener) immediately prior to application to the area to be treated, or prior to the application of a herbicide, or after the application of a herbicide, or for the pretreatment of seed, for example, for dressing the seed of the useful plants.
• the compounds according to the invention can be applied together with the herbicides by the pre-emergence method or the post-emergence method, for example in the case of simultaneous application as a tank mix or a co-formulation or in the case of a separate application, in parallel or in succession (split application). It is also possible to repeat the application a number of times. In some cases, it may be expedient to combine a pre- emergence application with a post-emergence application. In most cases, one option is a post-emergence application to the useful plant or crop plant together with a simultaneous or later application of the herbicide. Also possible is the use of the compounds according to the invention or salts thereof for seed dressing, for (dip) treatment of seedlings or for the treatment of other propagation material (for example potato tubers).
• Herbicides whose undesired side effects on useful plants can be reduced using compounds of the formula (I) or (II) or salts thereof can be from entirely different structural classes and have entirely different mechanisms of action. Preference is given to commercially available herbicides as described, for example, in the handbook “The Pesticide Manual”, 13th Edition 2003, The British Crop Protection Council, and in “Modern Crop Protection Compounds", edited by Wolfgang Kramer and Ulrich Schirmer, Volume 1 (ISBN 978-3-527-31496-6).
• Non-limiting examples of herbicides in relation to which the composition of the present invention may be useful include aminopyralid, glufosinate ammonium, fluroxypyr, imazapic, pendimethlin, sodium chlorate, chloroacetamindes such as metalchlor, acetochlor, butachlor, propachlor, thenylchlor; amides such as dimethenamid, propanil, naptalam, pronamide, bensulide, pethoxamid; organoarsenicals such as cacodylic acid and its sodium salt, disodium methanearsonate, monosodium methanearsonate; benzoic acids and derivatives thereof such as dicamba, chlorfenac, chloramben; nitriles such as dichlobenil and bromoxynil, 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile, loxynil; benzothiadiazoles such as bentazone; bipyridyliums such as diquat, paraqua
• Preferred herbicides which can be applied to the plant in combination with the safener compound of this invention include acetochlor, alachlor, asulam, benfluralin, butachlor, diethatyl, diflufenican, dimethenamid, flamprop, metazachlor, metolachlor, pendimethalin, pretilachlor, propachlor, propanil, trifluralin aminopyralid, chloramben, clopyralid, dicamba, picloram, pyrithiobac, quinclorac, quinmerac, cacodylic acid, copper arsenate, DSMA, MSMA, bensulide, bilanafos, ethephon, fosamine, glufosinate, glyphosate, piperophos, 2,4- D, 2,4-DB, dichlorprop, fenoprop, MCPA, MCPB, 2,4,5-T, dithiopyr, fluroxypyr, imazapyr, thiazopyr,
• herbicides to be used in accordance with this invention include, but are not limited to, ACCase inhibitors such as quizalofop, diclofop, fluazifop, fenoxaprop, clethodim, sethoxydim, and pinoxaden; ALS inhibitors such as imazamox, imazapic, imazethapyr, imazaquin, nicosulfuron, metsulfuron, triasulfuron, iodosulfuron, primisulfuron, chloriumuron, tribenuron, chlorsulfuron, thifensulfuron, sulfosulfuron, foramsulfuron, mesosulfuron, prosulfuron, halosulfuron, rimsulfuron, cloransulam-methyl, pyroxsulam, flumetsulam, diclosulam, pyrithiobac, flucarbazone, and prop
• Another aspect of the invention is an agrochemical composition
• agrochemical composition comprising a compound of Formula (I) or (II) or a salt thereof as defined hereinabove.
• a further aspect of the invention is a plant safener composition
• the composition preferably comprises a compound of formula I at a concentration of 1 ⁇ to 100 mM, preferably from 10 ⁇ to 10 mM, more preferably from 100 ⁇ to 1 mM, e.g. 500 ⁇ to 1 mM.
• the amount of the compound to be applied per plant typically ranges from 1 pmol to 100 mmol, preferably from 10 pmol to 10 mmol, most preferably from 50 pmol to 1 mmol.
• the agrochemical composition or the plant safener composition of the invention may further comprise a herbicide.
• the safener compound of the present invention may be combined with one or more of the herbicides listed above.
• the safener compounds described herein, together with agrochemical active compounds, preferably herbicides, are suitable for the selective control of weeds in a number of plant crops, for example in crops of economic importance, such as cereals (wheat, barley, rye, triticale, rice, corn, millet), sugar beet, sugar cane, oilseed rape, cotton and soybeans.
• monocotyledonous crops such as cereals (wheat, barley, rye, triticale, sorghum), including corn and rice, and monocotyledonous vegetable crops, but also in dicotyledonous crops, such as, for example, soybean, oilseed rape, cotton, grape vines, vegetable plants, fruit plants and ornamental plants.
• the present invention can further be used on the following plants as non-limiting examples: tomatoes, squash, pumpkin, beans, broccoli, green beans, asparagus, peas, corn, carrots, spinach, cauliflower, lima beans, broad beans, firench beans, runner beans, navy beans, kidney beans, lentils, cabbage, onions, courgettes, aubergines, sweet basil, leeks, artichokes, lettuce, cassava leaves, tomatoes, cucumbers and gherkins, marrows, gourds, squashes, chilies and peppers, green onions, dry onions, red onions, shallots, garlic, chives, other alliaceous vegetables, okra, mushrooms, watermelons, cantaloupe melons, other melons, bamboo shoots, beets, chards, other melons, bamboo shoots, beets, chards, capers, cardoons, celery, chervil, cress, fennel, horseradish, marjoram, oyster plant, parsley, parsnips, potato
• compositions according to the invention include cereals, for example barley and wheat, cotton, oilseed rape, maize, rice, soy beans, sugar beet and sugar cane, especially cereals and maize.
• Crops can also include trees, such as palm trees, coconut trees or other nuts, and vines such as grapes.
• the grasses and weeds to be controlled may be both monocotyledonous species, for example Agrostis, Alopecurus, Avena, Bromus, Cyperus, Digitaria, Echinochloa, Lolium, Monochoria, Rottboellia, Sagittaria, Scirpus, Setaria, Sida and Sorghum, and dicotyledonous species, for example Abutilon, Amaranthus, Chenopodium, Chrysanthemum, Galium, Ipomoea, Nasturtium, Sinapis, Solanum, Stellaria, Veronica, Viola and Xanthium.
• monocotyledonous species for example Agrostis, Alopecurus, Avena, Bromus, Cyperus, Digitaria, Echinochloa, Lolium, Monochoria, Rottboellia, Sagittaria, Scirpus, Setaria, Sida and Sorghum
• dicotyledonous species for example Abutilon,
• the compounds of the formula (I) (or (II) or salts thereof and their combinations with one or more of the abovementioned pesticides can be formulated in various ways, depending on the prevailing physicochemical and biological parameters.
• suitable formulation types are known to the person skilled in the art and described, for example, in: K. Martens, "Spray Drying Handbook", 3rd Ed., G. Goodwin Ltd., London, 1979; W. van Valkenburg, "Pesticide Formulations", Marcel Dekker, N.Y. 1973; Winnacker-Kuchler, "Chemische TECH” [Chemical Technology], volume 7, C.
• the useful-plant- protecting compositions may comprise, if appropriate, customary tackifiers, wetting agents, dispersants, penetrants, emulsifiers, preservatives, antifreeze agents, fillers, carriers, colorants, anti-foams, evaporation inhibitors and pH or viscosity regulators.
• the useful-plant-protecting compositions generally comprise 0.1 to 99% by weight, in particular 0.2 to 95% by weight, of one or more safeners of the formula (I) or (II), or a combination of safener and pesticide. Furthermore, they comprise 1 to 99.9, in particular 4 to 99.5, % by weight of one or more solid or liquid additives and 0 to 25, in particular 0.1 to 25, % by weight of a surfactant.
• the concentration of active compound i.e. the concentration of safener and/or pesticide
• Dusts usually comprise 1 to 30, preferably 5 to 20, % by weight of active compound.
• the concentration of active compound is generally 10 to 90% by weight.
• the content of active compound is, for example, between 1 and 95% by weight, preferably between 10 and 80% by weight.
• the formulations may, if appropriate, be diluted in a customary manner, for example in the case of wettable powders, emulsifiable concentrates, dispersions and water- dispersible granules, with water. Preparations in the form of dusts, granules and sprayable solutions are usually not diluted with any further inert substances prior to use.
• the required application rate of the safeners varies with the external conditions such as, inter alia, temperature, humidity and the type of herbicide used.
• the present invention further provides a method of identifying a receptor molecule binding to a compound of Formula (I) or (II) as defined herein, comprising (i) attaching the compound of Formula (I) or (II) or a salt thereof to a solid support to obtain a modified solid support, (ii) contacting the modified solid support with homogenized plant material, (iii) identifying and optionally characterizing plant molecules bound to the modified solid support.
• Methods of attaching chemical compounds to suitable solid supports, as well as methods of homogenizing plant material are known to the person skilled in the art.
• Step (iii) of the method typically comprises washing the solid support (e.g. the column material) to remove unbound plant material not bound to the solid support, and eluting the bound plant material.
• the eluted compound can be detected by HPLC or other means of detection.
• the structure of the compounds may then be determined by methods known per se, e.g. by mass spectroscopy, or gas chromatography.
• the present invention further provides a method of screening for plant growth-promoting compounds and/or plant safeners, comprising providing a derivative of a compound of Formula (I) or (I I) as defined herein, and determining the plant growth promoting activity and/or the stress tolerance conferring activity of the derivative.
• Example 1 Plants growing in agar plates
• Arabidopsis plants were grown from seeds in pots in a mixture of soil and vermiculite and watered with tap water for 15 days. Then watering was stopped for 48h until soil looked dried at the surface of the pot. A total of 4 trails containing 51 pots each were divided into 2 parts. Two trails were watered with deionized water 2 or deionized water supplemented with 1 mM pABA. The other trails were sprayed with solutions described above. Results show that watering plants with 1 mM pABA induced fresh weight of Arabidopsis aerial parts (leaves ad inflorescence stems) on average of 3.84%%. But when plant were given a foliar application, we observed 17.54% greater fresh weight than plant sprayed with only water 3 (Table 1 , Fig. 2). Table 1. Plants growing in soil and watered or sprayed with a solution containing pABA
• Asterisk (*) indicates significant difference t>95%.
• Maize seeds were germinated in Petri® dishes containing deionized-water-humidified Whatman® paper. Germinations of equal size were transferred in pots (one per pot) containing a mixture of soil and vermiculite and watered with tap water for 30 days. Then watering was stopped for 48h until soil looked dried at the surface of the pot. A total of 2 trails containing 10 pots each were respectively were watered with deionized water 2 or deionized water supplemented with 1 mM pABA.
• Results show that watering plants with 1 mM pABA significantly induced fresh weight of maize shoot (Fig. 3, Table 2).
• Asterisk (*) indicates significant difference t>95%.
• Poplar explants were grown at the surface of Agar plates 1 , with poplar stems being covered with an Agar plug 1 containing 200 ⁇ pABA, or in tubes containing solid medium 4 supplemented with 200 ⁇ pABA prior Agar polymerization. In both plates and tubes, pABA promoted root biomass by inducing an important root system (129% more adventitious than control) (Table 3). Table 3. Activity of pABA of poplar explant.
• Asterisk (*) indicates significant difference t>95%.
• Plants were micro propagated in vitro and grown on 1/2 MS medium (Murashige and Skoog, 962) in glass culture tubes under a 16 h photoperiod at 24°C in a growth chamber.
• adcs T-DNA mutants ⁇ SALK_095283 and SALK_034215 were in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh., ecotype Columbia (Col-0) background and ugt75b (AY027263) in Landsberg erecta (Ler).
• Seeds were surface-sterilized and sown on solid Arabidopsis medium (AM) (2.3 g/liter MS salts, 1 % sucrose, 5mM MES, 1.3% agar-agar (pH 6.0). After vernalization for 2 days at 4 °C, seeds were germinated under long-day period (16 h light, 8 h darkness) at 22 °C.
• pABA, and 5-FTHF Folinic acid calcium salt
• B-estradiol was dissolved in 100% ETOH and added to AM without exceeding an ETOH concentration of 0,1 %. Image-capture of plants and growth measurement were performed on 6-day old seedlings, otherwise stated. Construction of plasmids
• Plasmids and the conducted modifications are listed in Table S1. Plasmids were constructed according to [36], Gateway ® cloning procedures (Invitrogen), E. coli TOPO10 cells (Invitrogen) was used as a host for constructed plasmids. All genomic sequences were amplified from WT Col-0, GAT-ADCScONA was obtained from RIKEN. GAT-ADCS and HPPK-DHPS related inserts were cloned into the pDONR207 vector while UGT75B related fragments were cloned into pENTR vector. All entry clones were verified through sequencing. Vectors developed by Curtis et al.[26] were used as expression vectors.
• RNAi gateway cassette in pMDC7 was replaced by the RNAi gateway cassette of pJample8 using the restriction sites Spel and X/?o/[37]. All expression clones were generated using the LR-cloning technique (Invitrogen), except pUGT75B::NLS3xYFP [38] which was cloned into the pMDC32 by Hindlll and Sacl after replacing the 35Spromoter and the gateway cassette.
• the agrobacterium strain GV3101 (pMP90) was used to transform Arabidopsis according to the standard floral dip method [39]. Transformants were selected on 15pg/ml Hyromycin B. Quantification of free pABA
• Free and total pABA determinations were essentially performed according to [40]. Briefly, seedlings (0.2g to 0.5g) were grinded in liquid nitrogen and extracted two times by 2 ml of methanol. In separate control experiments we verified that the amount of pABA removed by the second extraction represented less than 20% of the pABA removed by the first one, indicating that the yield of extraction was over80%. Both extracts were combined then centrifuged and the supernatant was dried under a nitrogen gas flow. A 1 -ml aliquot of water was added to the residue, followed by sonication for 5 min. The sample solution was then divided into two equal parts of 0.45 ml each, one for the free and the other for the total pABA analyses.
• Self-pollinated heterozygous adcs2 were transformed with the genomic fragment of GAT- ADCS (-2175bp to 4364bp). Transformants were confirmed as adcs2 mutants by PCR and the ratio of defective embryos was determined. Complemented single insertion lines were expected to display a ratio of 6.25% defective embryos, while for double insertion lines a ratio of 1.56% was expected.
• GFP was excited using the 488 nm laser line in conjunction with a 505-530 band-pass filter.
• DAPI was excited with the 405 nm laser line and collected using a 420-480 nm band-pass filter.
• proteins were excited using the 514 nm laser line, and the emission collected at 527 nm. Images were analyzed with the LSM image browser (Carl Zeiss Microimaging) and Bitplanelmaris®.
• GAT-ADCS promoter was active throughout the plant (Figure 4C).
• GUS signal was present in cotyledons and leaves mainly in vasculature and stomata and in shoot apical meristem.
• GAT-ADCS expression was detected at root-shoot junction and along root vasculature up to the elongation zone ( Figures 4C and 12A).
• GUS-staining (30 min)
• GAT-ADCS was expressed in the QC and in columella lateral root cap cells ( Figure 4D, left).
• pADCS::GUS signal could be detected in epidermis and cortex ( Figure 4D, middle).
• HPPK- DHPS catalyzes the fusion of pABA and pterin for folate synthesis [7].
• HPPK-DHPS promoter activity globally matched GAT-ADCS promoter expression pattern in the whole plant ( Figure 4C and 4D) strongly suggesting that pABA is produced at the site of its utilization for THF synthesis.
• GAT-ADCS is the key enzyme for plant development and pABA synthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana
• adcs-2 which has a T-DNA inserted in the 12 th exon produced 25% embryos arrested at the globular stage ( Figures 6A-D). These embryos could develop further when opened siliques were transplanted on a medium supplemented with pABA, confirming these mutants lacked synthesis of pABA dependent metabolites ( Figure 8A-C). In support of the latter conclusion, shoots not in contact with the medium did not develop further ( Figure 8 D). Moreover, adcs-2 mutants could be complemented by GAT-ADCSYJT allele, reducing the ratio of arrested embryos from 25% to 6.25%, the expected ratio for a complemented heterozygous mutant ( Figure 6F and 6G, lines 10 and 17).
• pABA exists under two forms: an unconjugated metabolically active form presumably located in the cytoplasm (cytosol plus organelles), and an inactive conjugated form located in the vacuole ( Figures 4A and 11 A).
• free pABA is very low representing 5% of total pABA, in average. This low concentration (probably less than 1 ⁇ in the cytoplasm, assuming a cytoplasmic volume representing 10 % of the cell volume) makes accurate determination of free pABA quite difficult because, as previously shown QO], breakdown of the esterified form of folate during sample workup is very difficult to avoid and contributes, sometimes quite significantly, to the amount of free pABA.
• Plant growth relies on auxin gradients maintained by series of auxin influx carriers of the AUXIN RESISTANT 1/ Like AUX1 (AUX/LAX) family [22], efflux facilitators such as ABCB/multi-drug resistance/P-glycoprotein (ABCB/MDR/PGP) [23], and PIN-FORMED (PIN) proteins [24].
• PIN-proteins subcellular localization is highly dynamic and influenced by various internal and external signals, thereby directing and redirecting the intercellular fluxes of auxin[25J.
• the polarity of PIN-proteins is for example used to indicate the direction of auxin flux [26].
• auxin transport through AtPIN2 plays a crucial role and pin2 mutants are unable to establish lateral auxin gradient after gravi- stimulation and therefore are agravitropic [27,28].
• Plants treated with pABA were hypergravitropic ( Figure 10D and 10G), while induced Lex::UGT75B plants showed disturbed root graviresponse ( Figures 13D and 15A) suggesting that pABA could play a role in modulating the activity of some components of the auxin signaling pathway important for root graviresponse.
• PIN1 and PIN2 displayed their typical localization pattern.
• PIN1 was basally (rootward) localized.
• PIN2 was localized apically (shootward) in epidermis channeling auxin basipetally, and rootward in cortex cells (from root-transition zone) transporting auxin back to the QC ( Figure 15B).
• Epidermis- shootward and cortex- rootward PIN2 auxin transport reflux loop consolidate root-tip auxin maxima (as measured by the auxin-sensitive DR5 promoter), which is important for cell division and growth ( Figures 15B and 16A) [29].
• Arabidopsis seedlings (Wild type Col 0) were cultivated on control medium (AM), AM supplemented respectively with 3-ABA, pABA, Procaine, 5-FTHF, applied at the same concentration (100 ⁇ ), in the absence ( Figure 18, white bars) or presence ( Figure 18, black bars) of 2 ⁇ IAA.
• Benzoic acid derivatives such as pABA, mABA, Procaine and 5-FTHF fully restored root growth in the presence of inhibory concentrations of IAA.
• benzoic acid derivatives on root growth was studied using Arabidopsis seedlings cultivated on Control (AM) medium (Mock) or AM supplemented with either 100 ⁇ pABA, N0 2 -BA, CI-BA, l-BA or F-BA. It was found that benzoic acid derivatives having a pK a value of less than 4 had little or no root growth-promoting effect. On the other hand, pABA which has a pK a value of about 4.9 had significant root growth-promoting activity (Figure 19).
• NPA N-1 -naphthylphthalamic acid
• NPA applied atl OpM suppresses PAT and is therefore toxic for plant growth.
• NPA induces 50% root growth-inhibition and strongly perturbs root response to gravity (note plant roots are growing upside down) ( Figure 20A-B).
• pABA counteracted the activity of NPA and improved root growth (up to 60% when compared to the root size of untreated plants) and also restored root response to gravity ( Figure 20A- B), demonstrating the safener activity of pABA, protecting plants against the toxic activity of NPA.
• Camara D Richefeu-Contesto C, Gambonnet B, Dumas R, Rebeille F (201 1 ) The synthesis of pABA: Coupling between the glutamine amidotransferase and aminodeoxychorismate synthase domains of the bifunctional aminodeoxychorismate synthase from Arabidopsis thaliana. Arch Biochem Biophys 505: 83-90.
• AtPIN2 defines a locus of Arabidopsis for root gravitropism control. EMBO J 17: 6903-691 1.

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