Plants produce a wealth of biologically active compounds, many of which are used to defend themselves from various pests and pathogens. We explore the possibility of expanding upon the natural chemical diversity of plants and create molecules that have enhanced properties, by engineering metabolic pathways new to nature. We rationally broaden the set of primary metabolites that can be utilized by the core biosynthetic pathway of the natural biopesticide, brassinin, producing in planta a novel class of compounds that we call crucifalexins. Two of our new-to-nature crucifalexins are more potent antifungals than brassinin and, in some instances, comparable to commercially used fungicides. Our findings highlight the potential to push the boundaries of plant metabolism for the biosynthesis of new biopesticides.

中文翻译：

---

用于新型抗真菌剂生物合成的工程植物合成途径。

植物产生大量的生物活性化合物，其中许多用于防御各种害虫和病原体。我们探索通过工程化自然界新陈代谢的途径来扩大植物天然化学多样性并创建具有增强特性的分子的可能性。我们合理地拓宽了天然生物农药油菜素的核心生物合成途径可以利用的主要代谢物的范围，从而在植物中产生了一类新的化合物，我们称之为十字花青素。我们的两种新天然十字花青素比黄铜精更有效，而且在某些情况下可与市售杀菌剂媲美。我们的发现凸显了为新生物农药的生物合成推动植物代谢的边界的潜力。