Functional Analogues of Salicylic Acid and Their Use in Crop Protection

Functional analogues of salicylic acid are able to activate plant defense responses and provide attractive alternatives to conventional biocidal agrochemicals. However, there are many problems that growers must consider during their use in crop protection, including incomplete disease reduction and the fitness cost for plants. High-throughput screening methods of chemical libraries allowed the identification of new compounds that do not affect plant growth, and whose mechanisms of action are based on priming of plant defenses, rather than on their direct activation. Some of these new compounds may also contribute to the discovery of unknown components of the plant immune system.