FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- Local agriculture officials are upbeat about a German study showing that a sunflower plant could be used in new drugs to fight the disease that causes AIDS.

Scientists at the University of Bonn discovered the link while they were looking at antifungal properties the sunflower uses to fight off sclerotinia, a disease commonly known as white mold.

Brady Vick, a chemist for the USDA's sunflower research unit in Fargo, said the results come from reputable scientists who have a tradition of finding natural chemicals to treat diseases.

"It's exciting for the Germans, they're the ones who discovered it," Vick said Monday. "It's kind of a surprise announcement. I don't know how they made the connection."

The findings could help promote further research and marketing for the crop, said Larry Kleingartner, executive director of the National Sunflower Association in Bismarck.

"It's very preliminary, quite frankly," Kleingartner said. "We are checking within different levels of Washington to see if there's potential for some accelerated research on this."

Sunflower groups spend about $500,000 a year on research to fight white mold, he said. It also affects soybeans, canola and edible beans.

"It's interesting to see this very complex plant disease as a potential source of medicine for a very difficult human disease," Kleingartner said.

White mold cost farmers more than $100 million in 1999 and 2004, Kleingartner said. It can show up in the roots during growing season or infect the head during cool and wet weather in late summer.

"It can wipe out a whole field within a couple of days," Vick said.

The antifungal substance used in the AIDS drugs is also found in the artichoke and wild chicory. Researchers said it would be cheaper to make the drug from the sunflower plant.

"It's important to note that the apparent HIV antiviral compounds identified in the Bonn study occur within the sunflower plant, not the edible seed or oil of sunflower," Kleingartner said. "However, we already know that sunflower seed and oil have proven nutritional and health benefits unrelated to the defense chemicals within the plant that it uses to defend itself against fungal diseases."

Officials at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md., were not immediately available for comment.

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