Bioprospect isolates termite-repellent

Evolutionary biologists talk about a perpetual arms race between predators and prey -- an unwinnable war in which one combatant achieves a transient advantage before the other develops a counter-measure. But it seems that at least one native hardwood of Australia's tropical north found a game-ending defence against termites that keeps its wood nice long after it expires.

Queensland biotechnology company BioProspect (ASX:BPO) has finally isolated the magical 'factor X' in the natural termiticide AP778 that it found in an ancient wooden fence that had repelled termites and all other borers for more than a century in a paddock northern Queensland.

The company is giving nothing away about the chemical identity of the compound, except to say that it is oily and insoluble in water.

The company reported today that AP778 had performed exceptionally well in a barrier trial, coordinated by Prof David Leach, of Southern Cross University in Lismore, and Prof Robert Spooner-Hart of the University of Western Sydney.

A sand barrier, impregnated with unformulated AP778, provided long-lived protection to wooden baits that would normally be irresistible to termites, repelling and killing the insects at a concentration only 2 per cent.

Leach and Spooner-Hart reported that they had not expected the chemical to last as long as it did without co-formulation -- results showed AP778 has excellent spreading and self-fixing natural properties.

After its success in the barrier trial, the natural termiticide is about to be given a real-world run one of the toughest tracks in Australia -- a termite-infested landscape near Narrandera, in southern NSW, that the termite-protection industry uses as a ground zero to test new termidicides.

BioProspect CEO Selwyn Snell said AP778, while deadly to termites, is non-toxic to mammals and is environmentally friendly. It has a unique triple action: it kills on contact, repels termites, and acts as an anti-feedant.

The molecule is simple, and can be synthesised, so there will be no need to harvest wild trees to extract it.

Snell said the company believed its activity could be by formulating it with a carrier medium. There are also plans to test it for activity against other insect pests, including ants, alone or in combination with its other lead compound Qcide, another natural insecticide, extracted from a tropical eucalypt.

He said there are 350 species of termites in Australia, of which about 30 are potential home-wreckers, and some 2500 termite species worldwide.

Investors embraced the news, sending BioProspect's share price up 115 per cent at time of writing to AUD$0.105.