Yajima Arata
Department of Chemistry for Life Sciences and Agriculture, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Agriculture.
J Pestic Sci. 2025 Aug 20;50(3):87-95. doi: 10.1584/jpestics.J25-03.
Developing new agrochemicals is essential for sustainable agriculture and global food security. Our group focused on natural products that control plant pathogens, conducting synthetic research across three key areas of interest: antimicrobial compounds, phytoalexins, and microbial signaling molecules. We established new methods for producing chiral allylic alcohols as useful synthetic intermediates for natural product synthesis the enantioselective synthesis of antimicrobial agents such as peniciaculins. In the phytoalexin research, the synthesis of biosynthetic intermediates enabled the elucidation of enzyme functions in terms of their biosynthesis and the confirmation of absolute configurations, deepening our understanding of plant defense systems. Furthermore, the total synthesis and biosynthetic studies of mating hormones revealed a unique chemical relay system regulating sexual reproduction. These findings emphasize the importance of synthetic chemistry in advancing natural product research and offer new strategies for crop protection. Our interdisciplinary approach paves the way for future innovations in combating agricultural pests and diseases.
开发新型农用化学品对可持续农业和全球粮食安全至关重要。我们的团队专注于控制植物病原体的天然产物，在三个关键研究领域开展合成研究：抗菌化合物、植保素和微生物信号分子。我们建立了生产手性烯丙醇的新方法，作为天然产物合成的有用合成中间体——如青霉环素等抗菌剂的对映选择性合成。在植保素研究中，生物合成中间体的合成使得能够从其生物合成方面阐明酶的功能并确认绝对构型，加深了我们对植物防御系统的理解。此外，交配激素的全合成和生物合成研究揭示了一种调节有性生殖的独特化学接力系统。这些发现强调了合成化学在推进天然产物研究中的重要性，并为作物保护提供了新策略。我们的跨学科方法为未来防治农业病虫害的创新铺平了道路。
