Review: Microbial synthesis of agrochemical metabolites

The synthesis of agrochemical metabolite reference standards by microbial cultures can serve as a useful alternative to conventional chemical synthesis, particularly when the chemical synthesis is difficult. Microbially generated metabolites of agrochemicals can also be useful for predicting degradative pathways in animals, plants and soils prior to conducting animal, plant and soil metabolism studies which are required by regulatory agencies to support agrochemical registrations. Examples from the literature are used to illustrate the utility of synthesizing metabolites of agrochemicals by common microbes. Received 17 January 1997/ Accepted in revised form 20 March 1997