Putting the fun into antifungals
Pest Management and BioActive Sciences group: Antifungals
- Discovery and mode of action
 Delegates
from all over Europe, the US and Japan gathered at Churchill
College, Cambridge, UK, for SCI’s ‘Antifungals –
discovery and mode of action’ meeting. This conference,
organised jointly by the Pest Management Group and the BioActive
Sciences Group, focused on mode of action studies, resistance
management and new antifungal compounds in both agricultural
and pharmaceutical research.
The Keynote presentation was given by Mike Bushell, Head
of Strategy and Technology at Syngenta. He compared the approaches
of the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries to discovery
and development of new antifungal agents.
Other talks discussed signalling events in pathogens as a
potential target, and the importance of resistance management
in development of new antifungals. In particular several talks
explored the mechanisms of resistance, especially resistance
to antifungal agents that interfere with metabolism and sterol
biosynthesis.
Future for antifungals
The last day of the conference was devoted to the future of
antifungal research. Current research into alternatives to
small molecules as antifungals, such as boosting host resistance
and genetic engineering, was revealed. Such technologies,
while promising, have some way to go before commercial products
can be released.
Finally, new rapid diagnostic methods and emerging diseases
and resistance problems were discussed, emphasising the need
for novel fungicides with novel modes of action to effectively
control fungi in the future.
The lively debate continued outside the lecture theatre,
with the poster session in particular giving delegates the
chance to discuss current and future work. The luxurious dinner
laid on in the college gave delegates a chance to relax and
socialise.
This was the second conference on this topic organised by
SCI. Since the previous meeting, held ten years ago, great
advances have been made, and in particular the advent of genomics
has given rise to a whole new set of tools for targeted antifungal
research. This meeting of scientists from different disciplines
and countries is sure to foster another ten years of fruitful
research.
By Tom Hopkinson, Editorial Assistant, PMSci
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