Determination of plant interactions treated with porphyrins and various light wavelengths.

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Petro-Canada has developed a range of porphyrin and phthalocyanine-based compounds that in real-world tests have performed well in terms of promoting a plant's capacity to cope with both abiotic (i.e. drought and salt) and biotic (fungal pathogen) stresses. These positive effects are realized by periodically spraying plants with formulations based on porphyrin and phthalocyanines. Porphyrin and phthalocyanine molecules are unique in that some representatives (i.e. chlorophyll) can harvest ambient sunlight to drive a variety of useful processes including photosynthesis. At the same time unwanted side reactions can become manifest including the formation of reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen leading to cellular damage. It is well known that porphyrins and phthalocyanines absorb light radiation at very specific wavelengths and the observed biological activity is associated with the exposure to light of specific wavelengths and intensity. Therefore, to understand the mode of action it is critical to determine how a plant treated with various porphyrins reacts to light of different wavelengths. Being able to answer these fundamental questions will allow the industry partner to engineer porphyrins better suited to the needs of agriculture. Understanding how specific porphyrins and phthalocyanines interact with light will allow them to synthesize molecules that are more active and less prone to the formation of damaging reactive oxygen species.