Brassinosteroids
A Half Century of Progress (1970 - 2020)
In 1970, Nature published the exciting discovery of brassinolide by Bhushan Mandava and John Mitchell, et al. “Brassins- A New Family of Plant Hormones from Rape Pollen”. The introduction of brassinosteroids as the sixth and newest class of plant hormones surprised a field that had believed the five established classes were complete.
This monograph is the first to fully encompass the story of brassinosteroids from innovation with bioassays and isolation through the investigation into signaling, crosstalk, stress response and agricultural application. International research has led to the identification of 62 brassinosteroids with patents and agricultural use in many countries. Homobrassinolide is one brassinosteroid that helps improve crop yield and fruit sweetness while conferring stress resistance.
Bhushan Mandava, PhD, held 4 U.S. and Canadian patents including homobrassinolide on almonds. He has published over 170 papers, 2 books and edited 6 books on naturally occurring pesticides.
Bhushan served as an Advisor to United Nations Agencies (UNIDO, UNDP, FAO) to advise 15 countries in Asia and the Pacific Region on agricultural productivity and crop safety. He served as president of The Chemical Society of Washington and as councilor, career consultant and ACS Ambassador for the American Chemical Society for over 25 years.
An accomplished federal employee at the USDA and EPA, Bhushan is renowned for his work in research, applications, regulations and national and international expertise and guidance. He is the president of Repar Corporation, an R&D and marketing firm in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.
