fungicides Archives

Trifluoromethylpyridine: Its chemistry and applications

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Tsukamoto and Nakamura study the chemistry of TFMP derivatives, which are used in the pharmaceutical industry and as chemical feedstock for pest control, fungicidal, and herbicidal agents.

Trifluoromethylpyridine (TFMP) and its intermediates are important ingredients for the development of agrochemical and pharmaceutical compounds. The presence of a fluorine atom and a carbon-containing pyridine are thought to bestow many of the distinctive physical–chemical properties observed with this class of compounds. Dr Masamitsu Tsukamoto and Mr Tadashi Nakamura, of Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha, Ltd, Japan, take a closer look at this […]

Do bees farm microbes? Rethinking what it is to be a bee

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A bee on a purple flower. Dr Dharampal and Dr Steffan study bee–microbe symbioses.

Bees have not been eating what we thought they were. The work of Dr Prarthana Dharampal and Dr Shawn Steffan, University of Wisconsin, USA, shows bees are not strict vegetarians requiring just pollen and nectar for food. Larval bee health is also reliant on eating the microbes that are feeding on the pollen supplies. The bee larvae are further up […]

Blotches and spots: Understanding blemishes of faba bean

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Dr Biruta Bankina researches into the variety of pathogens that cause blemishes on faba beans

Over the last decade, grain legumes such as faba beans have been cultivated widely in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Faba bean is the world’s second-highest grain-yielding legume, yet the occurrence and spread of specific diseases of faba bean grown in Europe have not been studied in great detail. Dr Biruta Bankina and colleagues Dāvids Fridmanis, Gunita Bimšteine, Jānis Kaņeps, […]