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AssigneeHexima Limited
InventorsMarilyn Anderson, Robyn Heath, James McKenna, Nicole Van Der Weerden
Estimating the term…
A system for reducing the incidence or severity of fungal infection of a plant, comprising a chemical fungicide component, which may be provided by foliar or root (soil or liquid nutrient) application, together with an antifungal plant defensin not in nature expressed in the plant being protected or expressed in lower amounts or in different tissues, provides synergistic improvement in protection against infection by a plant pathogenic fungus which is susceptible to the defensin and the fungicide. The fungicide can be a strobilurin or a triazole, and the defensin can be selected from a wide range of known defensins, for example, NaD1 and others, or it can be a chimeric defensin engineered for low toxicity to the plant. The defensin can be provided as a protein formulation, optionally together with the fungicide, or it can be provided by recombinant expression in the plant to be protected from fungal infection.
A method for protecting a plant or plant seed from a disease caused by a given susceptible fungus, comprising applying said plant, plant seed or a soil surrounding the plant seed with a floral defensin which exhibits a relative permeability index of greater than 0.4 in contact with the given susceptible fungus on a scale where the permeability index of defensin NaD1 is set as 1.0 and a chemical fungicide, wherein the defensin and the chemical fungicide in combination being synergistic with respect to inhibition of the fungus, wherein the chemical fungicide is a strobilurin and/or a triazole.
A composition having antifungal properties, for contacting a plants a plant seed or a soil surrounding the plant seed, comprising a floral defensin and a chemical fungicide, wherein said defensin exhibits a relative permeability index of greater than 0.4 in contact with a given susceptible fungus on a scale where the permeability index of defensin NaD1 is set as 1.0, wherein the chemical fungicide is a strobilurin and/or a triazole, and wherein the defensin and the chemical fungicide in combination being synergistic with respect to inhibition of the fungus.
A kit comprising a floral defensin and a chemical fungicide wherein said defensin exhibits a relative permeability index of greater than 0.4 in contact with a given susceptible fungus on a scale where the permeability index of defensin NaD1 is set as 1.0, wherein the defensin and the chemical fungicide are admixed prior to application to a plant or plant seed, wherein the chemical fungicide is a strobilurin and/or a triazole, and wherein the defensin and the chemical fungicide in combination being synergistic with respect to inhibition of the fungus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.