Fairy chemicals - a candidate for a new family of plant hormones and possibility of practical use in agriculture.

2-Azahypoxanthine (AHX, 1) and imidazole-4-carboxamide (ICA, 2) were isolated from a fairy-ring forming fungus Lepista sordida. AHX was converted into a metabolite, 2-aza-8-oxohypoxanthine (AOH, 3), in plants. Afterward, it turned out that these three compounds, fairy chemicals (FSc), endogenously exist in plants and are biosynthesized via a new purine metabolic pathway. Furthermore, FCs increased the yields of rice, wheat and other crops in the filled experiments.