Agronomy Webinar| Natural Products and Microbial Strategies for Integrated Crop Protection with Broader Applications
Agronomy Webinar| Natural Products and Microbial Strategies for Integrated Crop Protection with Broader Applications
Part of the Agronomy Webinar series
6 February 2026
Natural Product Chemistry, Crop Protection Strategies, Allelopathy, Bioactive Secondary Metabolites
Welcome from the Chair
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to this webinar hosted in the framework of Agronomy. It is a pleasure to address how nature-derived compounds and beneficial microorganisms can contribute to current and emerging applications, with a particular focus on more effective and sustainable crop protection. To this end, it is also a pleasure to be joined by distinguished researchers from the Universities of Cádiz (Spain), Naples Federico II (Italy), and Graz (Austria).
Crop diseases remain a major constraint on yield stability and food security, and there is growing demand for solutions that deliver reliable, field-ready performance while ensuring efficacy and safety. This webinar brings together complementary approaches that link fundamental understanding with application-oriented strategies, covering allelopathy-inspired chemistry for greener crop protection (including illustrative examples involving strigolactone mimics and benzoxazinoid-based bioherbicide concepts), the use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria as biocontrol agents, and selected examples illustrating how compounds from food and medicinal plants attract interest for broader benefits. Overall, the contributions presented aim to highlight how these strategies can help advance practical and sustainable solutions for crop disease control and beyond, and how these topics continue to be the focus of research by many groups worldwide, with science responding to society’s evolving demands.
The speakers hope you will find this session both stimulating and valuable for your own research and practice, and warmly invite you to join us.
Kind regards,
Dr. Jesús García Zorrilla
Date: 6 February 2026
Time: 10:00 am CET | 5:00 pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 873 9540 1662
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Event Chairs
Dr. Jesús García Zorrilla is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cádiz (Spain), where he is affiliated with the Allelopathy Group and the Institute of Biomolecules (INBIO). He earned a cum laude PhD on the synthesis of novel strigolactone analogs and eudesmanolide-based mimics aimed at the sustainable management of parasitic weeds. His research bridges organic chemistry with chemical ecology, combining natural product isolation, structural elucidation, chromatography, degradation studies, and bioassays to identify bioactive compounds and design improved derivatives for crop protection and health-related applications. Across his academic and postdoctoral career, he has contributed to and led multiple research projects in the field, presented at more than twenty international conferences, supervised BSc and MSc students, and completed over two years of international postdoctoral stays at the University of Naples Federico II and the University of Turin (Italy). In 2024, he received the Phytochemical Society of Europe award for the Best Young Researcher Contribution to Natural Products Research.
Invited Speakers
Dr. Francisco J. Rodríguez Mejías holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Cádiz, where he developed organic encapsulation agents for pharmacological and agrochemical applications. He completed a research stay at Jacobs University Bremen and earned cum laude honors with a European Doctor distinction. He has published 23 JCR Q1/Q2 articles, 2 patents, and a book chapter. His work has received multiple awards, including Best Young Researcher in Natural Products by the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry. As a postdoctoral researcher, he has contributed to projects in Cádiz (Spain) and Innsbruck (Austria), supervised BSc and MSc students, and managed research grants exceeding €1M. He also holds leadership roles in scientific committees, notably serving as Iberian Representative of the Phytochemical Society of Europe.
Prof. Rachele Isticato is an Associate Professor of Microbiology at the Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II (Italy). Her research focuses on the genetics and molecular biology of Bacillus spore-forming bacteria, spore biology, and the use of bacterial spores as delivery systems. More recently, she has expanded her research to plant–microbe interactions, focusing on plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and microbial biocontrol agents to improve crop productivity, stress resilience, and soil health within a One Health framework. She has actively collaborated with several national and international research groups, and the results of her research have been published in over 70 peer-reviewed publications and 2 international book chapters.
Prof. Franz Bucar is Deputy Head of the Department of Pharmacognosy, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, at the University of Graz, Austria, and an Associate Professor in Pharmacognosy. His major research activities focus on drug discovery from traditional medicinal plants, including extraction, isolation, structure elucidation, and analysis of plant constituents with antibacterial activity, as well as plant natural products as modulators of bacterial resistance. More recently, his research interests have expanded to plant compounds with anti-adipogenic and lipolytic activity. He was President of the Phytochemical Society of Europe (PSE) from 2020 – 2022 and Vice-President from 2018 – 2020 and from 2022 - 2024. He was also a member of the Executive Board of the Austrian Pharmaceutical Society and is an Overseas Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (UK). Prof. Bucar is a Subject Editor of Phytochemistry Letters and serves on The Editorial Advisory Board of Phytotherapy Research. Currently, he is the author or co-author of ca. 160 publications in peer-reviewed journals and 4 book chapters.
Registration
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Certificates of attendance will be delivered to those who attend the live webinar.
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Relevant Special Issue
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026
Program
|
Speaker/Presentation |
Time in CET |
Time in CST Asia |
|
MDPI Introduction |
10:00 am – 10:10 am |
5:00 pm – 5:10 pm |
|
Dr. Jesús García Zorrilla (Chair) Chair Introduction Biocommunicators and Allelopathy-Inspired Organic Chemistry for Greener Crop Protection |
10:10 am – 10:30 am |
5:10 pm – 5:30 pm |
|
Dr. Francisco Javier Rodríguez Mejías Allelopathy for a Greener Agriculture: From Natural Phenomena to Field Applications of Benzoxazinoid-Based Bioherbicides |
10:30 am – 10:50 am |
5:30 pm – 5:50 pm |
|
Prof. Rachele Isticato Beneficial Bacteria in Action: Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria as Biocontrol Agents for Sustainable Crop Protection |
10:50 am – 11:10 am |
5:50 pm – 6:10 pm |
|
Prof. Franz Bucar Phenolic Compounds in Food and Medicinal Plants – Antimicrobial Activities and Health Benefits |
11:10 am – 11:30 am |
6:10 pm – 6:30 pm |
|
Q&A |
11:30 am – 11:45am |
6:30 pm – 6:45 pm |
|
Closing of Webinar Dr. Jesús García Zorrilla (Chair) |
11:45 am – 12:00 pm |
6:45 pm – 7:00 pm |
Relevant MDPI Award
To honor Professor Tu Youyou's remarkable contributions to human health and build upon her achievements, MDPI established the Tu Youyou Award in 2016. This award aims to acknowledge exceptional scholars committed to the research fields of natural product chemistry and medicinal chemistry.
Prize:
- CHF 100,000 (to be divided equally should multiple recipients be awarded).
- An award medal and a certificate.
Nomination: Nominations will open in April 2026. For more information, please visit https://tuyouyouprize.org/.
Sponsors and Partners
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