Plant Health

or superintendents to provide top quality turfgrass, the turf must make the best use of inputs like carbon and nitrogen while limiting energy wasted on preventing stresses caused by diseases, the environment, and other factors. Agronomic practices such as low mowing heights, reduced nitrogen rates, reduced irrigation inputs, and other cultural practices such as aerification can also cause stress to the turf. To maximize turf quality, superintendents focus on controlling factors they can impact to create an ideal environment for turf growth. These factors include agronomic practices to reduce stress, improve quality, and manage pests and diseases.

Intrinsic brand fungicides, including Insignia SC Intrinsic and Honor Intrinsic, improve plant health through inhibition of mitochondrial respiration in both fungal diseases and plants.

In fungi, inhibition of mitochondrial respiration prevents the breakdown of carbon required for production of energy to fuel fungal growth. This results in death of the fungi and is the disease control benefit.

In plants, the inhibition of mitochondrial respiration causes a cascade of positive events that can result in improved tolerance to stresses and increased efficiency of plant physiological processes. Inhibition of mitochondrial respiration by pyraclostrobin results in:

• Less CO₂ lost by the plant, resulting in more carbon available for plant growth.
• Increased activity of nitrate reductase (NR), the enzyme that is important for making a form of nitrogen that can be used by plants. This results in more nitrogen available for plant growth.
  • The activation of nitrate reductase increases levels of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide triggers plant defense mechanisms. Plant defense mechanisms are important not only in defending against fungal diseases, but also bacterial and viral diseases.
  • Nitric oxide inhibits enzymes involved in the production of ethylene, a plant hormone produced in response to stress. Ethylene can cause a plant to drop energy containing leaves, to mature earlier than normal, and to abort flowers and seed in response to stress.
• Increased activity of enzymes like superoxide dismutase and peroxidases that remove harmful activated oxygen species. This can result in reduced oxidative stress in response to environmental disorders, such as physiological leaf spot, ozone damage, cold stress, and heat stress.

Delivering value by affecting 3 components

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Plant Health Research

BASF has researched the plant health effects of pyraclostrobin in crops for more than 10 years and in turf and ornamentals for more than three years. Our findings show that pyraclostrobin enhances many physiological processes in a plant. So while the chemical treats the turf and plants for disease, it also primes the plant’s immune system, resulting in more efficient growth and photosynthesis as well as increased tolerance to stress. Download a copy of the research findings below:

• BASF Intrinsic Plant Health Research ( pdf, 3 MB)

Success Stories

Written

Insignia® SC Intrinsic™ brand fungicide protects against diseases and stress at Janesville Country Club.

• Janesville Country Club Insignia Success Story ( pdf, 714 KB)

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Video

Intrinsic™ Brand Fungicide Success Stories: Hawk's Nest Golf Club

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