Design, Synthesis, and Antifungal Activity of N-(alkoxy)-Diphenyl Ether Carboxamide Derivates as Novel Succinate Dehydrogenase Inhibitors.

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH, EC 1.3.5.1) is one of the most promising targets for fungicide development and has attracted great attention worldwide. However, existing commercial fungicides targeting SDH have led to the increasingly prominent problem of pathogen resistance, so it is necessary to develop new fungicides. Herein, we used a structure-based molecular design strategy to design and synthesize a series of novel SDHI fungicides containing an N-(alkoxy)diphenyl ether carboxamide skeleton. The mycelial growth inhibition experiment showed that compound M15 exhibited a very good control effect against four plant pathogens, with inhibition rates of more than 60% at a dose of 50 µg/mL. A structure-activity relationship study found that N-O-benzyl-substituted derivatives showed better antifungal activity than others, especially the introduction of a halogen on the benzyl. Furthermore, the molecular docking results suggested that π-π interactions with Trp35 and hydrogen bonds with Tyr33 and Trp173 were crucial interaction sites when inhibitors bound to SDH. Morphological observation of mycelium revealed that M15 could inhibit the growth of mycelia. Moreover, in vivo and in vitro tests showed that M15 not only inhibited the enzyme activity of SDH but also effectively protected rice from damage due to R. solani infection, with a result close to that of the control at a concentration of 200 µg/mL. Thus, the N-(alkoxy)diphenyl ether carboxamide skeleton is a new starting point for the discovery of new SDH inhibitors and is worthy of further investigation.

Antifungal Activity of Chaetoviridin A from Chaetomium globosum CEF-082 Metabolites Against Verticillium dahliae in Cotton.

Cotton Verticillium wilt (CVW) is a severe soilborne disease caused by the pathogen Verticillium dahliae, and it has a great impact on cotton production. Previous studies found that the biocontrol agent Chaetomium globosum CEF-082 and its metabolic filtrate could reduce the incidence of CVW; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The metabolic crude extract of CEF-082 increased the sensitivity of V. dahliae to stress, degraded the cell wall of V. dahliae, and increased the emergence and plant height of cotton. Through separation and purification of the metabolic crude extract of CEF-082, chaetoviridin A was identified and found to be highly active against V. dahliae. The compound caused cell necrosis and mycelial deformation, increased the production of reactive oxygen species and nitrous oxide, and inhibited the germination of microsclerotia of V. dahliae, enhancing the cotton plant defense response. In addition, CEF-082 also colonized cotton plants.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Eremophilane Sesquiterpenes and Benzene Derivatives from the Endophyte Microdiplodia sp. WGHS5.

Three new eremophilane sesquiterpenes phomadecalins G-I (1-3) and two new benzene derivatives microdiplzenes A and B (12 and 13), together with nine known eremophilane sesquiterpenes (4-11 and 14) were isolated from an endophytic fungus, Microdiplodia sp. WGHS5. Their structures were elucidated by the interpretation of HR-ESI-MS and NMR data; meanwhile, the absolute configurations of new compounds were determined on the base of ECD calculations. All compounds were evaluated for the antimicrobial activities and antiproliferative effect on human gastric cancer cell lines (BGC-823).

An Activity-Based Sensing Fluorogenic Probe for Monitoring Ethylene in Living Cells and Plants.

Ethylene (ET) is an important gaseous plant hormone. It is highly desirable to develop fluorescent probes for monitoring ethylene in living cells. We report an efficient RhIII -catalysed coupling of N-phenoxyacetamides to ethylene in the presence of an alcohol. The newly discovered coupling reaction exhibited a wide scope of N-phenoxyacetamides and excellent regioselectivity. We successfully developed three fluorophore-tagged RhIII -based fluorogenic coumarin-ethylene probes (CEPs) using this strategy for the selective and quantitative detection of ethylene. CEP-1 exhibited the highest sensitivity with a limit of detection of ethylene at 52 ppb in air. Furthermore, CEP-1 was successfully applied for imaging in living CHO-K1 cells and for monitoring endogenous-induced changes in ethylene biosynthesis in tobacco and Arabidopsis thaliana plants. These results indicate that CEP-1 has great potential to illuminate the spatiotemporal regulation of ethylene biosynthesis and ethylene signal transduction in living biological systems.

Bioactive-guided structural optimization of 1,2,3-triazole phenylhydrazones as potential fungicides against Fusarium graminearum.

The phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum is the major causal agent of fusarium head blight (FHB), which is one of the most serious diseases in wheat. Based on our previous work, the 1,2,3-triazole phenylhydrazone scaffold was further optimized at three modification sites to improve its antifungal activity against F. graminearum. The optimization yielded compound 8d was discovered to be a potent fungicidal agent with an EC50 value of 0.28 µg/mL against F. graminearum, which is 3.6 times lower than previously reported. In addition, 8d also exhibited good inhibitory activities against Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum with EC50 values of 0.86 and 1.66 µg/mL, respectively. In vivo testing demonstrated that 8d could effectively suppress the disease development of FHB at 200 µg/mL with a protection efficacy of 80.6%. Scanning electron micrographs and transmission electron micrographs showed that the external morphology and internal contents of F. graminearum hyphae were abnormal after 24 h of 8d treatment. Therefore, compound 8d was a promising fungicide candidate for further development.

Design, synthesis, and antifungal activity of carboxamide derivatives possessing 1,2,3-triazole as potential succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors.

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) is demonstrably one of the most important molecular targets in development of new fungicide. In our continuous efforts to discover novel SDH inhibitors, forty-two carboxamide derivatives containing 1,2,3-triazole ring were designed and synthesized, which were precisely characterized by 1H NMR, ESI-MS, elemental analysis and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. The compounds were screened for antifungal activities against phytopathogenic fungi by mycelia growth inhibition assay in vitro. Compound A3-3 exhibited significant antifungal activity against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia cerealis and Gaeumannomyces graminsis with EC50 values of 1.08, 8.75, 1.67 and 5.30 µg/mL, respectively, comparable to those of commercial SDHI boscalid. In vivo testing demonstrated that A3-3 was effective for suppressing rape sclerotinia rot, cucumber grey mould and wheat powdery mildew caused by S. sclerotiorum， B. cinerea and Blumeria graminis at a dosage of 200 µg/mL. Inhibition activities against SDH test proved the designed analogues were effective in the enzyme level. The molecular docking simulation revealed that A3-3 interacted with ARG43，TYR58 and TRP173 of the SDH through hydrogen bond and pi-pi interaction, which could explain the probable mechanism of action between the inhibitor and target protein.

Design, synthesis and fungicidal evaluation of novel pyraclostrobin analogues.

A series of novel pyraclostrobin derivatives were designed and prepared as antifungal agents. Their antifungal activities were tested in vitro with five important phytopathogenic fungi, namely, Batrylis cinerea, Phytophthora capsici, Fusarium sulphureum, Gloeosporium pestis and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum using the mycelium growth inhibition method. Among these compounds, 5s displayed IC50 value of 0.57 µg/mL against Batrylis cinerea and 5k-II displayed IC50 value of 0.43 µg/mL against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, which were close to that of the positive control pyraclostrobin (0.18 µg/mL and 0.15 µg/mL). Other compounds 5f, 5k-II, 5j, 5m and 5s also exhibited strong antifungal activity. Further enzymatic assay demonstrated compound 5s inhibited porcine bc1 complex with IC50 value of 0.95 µM. The statistical results from an integrated computational pipeline demonstrated the predicted total binding free energy for compound 5s is the highest. Consequently, compound 5s with the biphenyl-4-methoxyl side chain could serve as a new motif as inhibitors of bc1 complex and deserve to be further investigated.

Nigrosporanenes C and D, two new cyclohexene derivatives from the enphytic fungus Nigrospora oryzae S4.

Two new cyclohexene derivatives, nigrosporanenes C and D (1 and 2), together with three known compounds (3-5), were isolated from the culture of an endophyte Nigrospora oryzae S4. Their structures were characterized by a combination of detailed spectroscopic analysis and comparison of their NMR data with those reported in the literature. All compounds were tested for anti-phytopathogenic activity, however, none of them showed activity at a concentration of 20 µM.

New Metabolites from Endophytic Fungus Chaetomium globosum CDW7.

Five metabolites including two new ones, prochaetoviridin A (1) and chaetoindolin A (2), were isolated from the endophytic fungus Chaetomium globosum CDW7. Compounds 1 and 2 were characterized as an isocoumarin and an indole alkaloid derivative, respectively, with their structures elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses including high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS), NMR, and circular dichroism (CD) comparison. Compounds 3⁻5 were identified as chaetoviridin A, chaetoglobosin R, and chaetoglobosin T, respectively. Chaetoviridin A (3) exhibited antifungal activity against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum with an EC50 value of 1.97 µg/mL. In vivo test showed that 3 displayed a protective efficacy of 64.3% against rape Sclerotinia rot at the dosage of 200 µg/mL, comparable to that of carbendazim (69.2%).

Anti-phytopathogenic activity of sporothriolide, a metabolite from endophyte Nodulisporium sp. A21 in Ginkgo biloba.

Phytopathogenic fungi such as Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum caused multiple plant diseases resulting in severe loss of crop production. Increasing documents endorsed that endophytes are a striking resource pool for numerous metabolites with various bioactivities such as anti-fungal. Here we reported the characterization and anti-phytopathogenic activity of sporothriolide, a metabolite produced by Nodulisporium sp. A21-an endophytic fungus in the leaves of Ginkgo biloba. Among the total twenty-five endophytic fungi isolated from the healthy leaves of G. biloba, the fermentation broth (FB) of the strain A21 was found potently inhibitory activity against R. solani and S. sclerotiorum using mycelia growth inhibition method. A21 was then identified as Nodulisporium sp., the asexual stage of Hypoxylon sp., by microscopic examination and ITS rDNA sequence data comparison. Under the bioassay-guided fractionation, sporothriolide was isolated from the petroleum ether extract of the FB of A21, whose structure was established by integrated interpretation of HR-ESI-MS and (1)H- and (13)C-NMR. Furthermore, the crystal structure of sporothriolide was first reported. In addition, sporothriolide was validated to be potently antifungal against R. solani, S. sclerotiorum and inhibit conidium germination of Magnaporthe oryzae in vitro and in vivo, indicating that it could be used as a lead compound for new fungicide development.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Benzimidazole Phenylhydrazone Derivatives as Antifungal Agents against Phytopathogenic Fungi.

A series of benzimidazole phenylhydrazone derivatives (6a-6ai) were synthesized and characterized by ¹H-NMR, ESI-MS, and elemental analysis. The structure of 6b was further confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction as (E)-configuration. All the compounds were screened for antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani and Magnaporthe oryzae employing a mycelium growth rate method. Compound 6f exhibited significant inhibitory activity against R. solani and M. oryzae with the EC50 values of 1.20 and 1.85 µg/mL, respectively. In vivo testing demonstrated that 6f could effectively control the development of rice sheath blight (RSB) and rice blast (RB) caused by the above two phytopathogens. This work indicated that the compound 6f with a benzimidazole phenylhydrazone scaffold could be considered as a leading structure for the development of novel fungicides.

[DNA Barcode Screening and Identifying for Anredera cordifolia and Its Related Species].

Objective: To identify Anredera cordifolia and its closely related species using the DNA barcode. Methods: 28 individuals of Anredera cordifolia and its close related species were collected from different habitats. ITS and ITS2 of ribosomal DNA,matK,rbcL and psb A-trn H of chloroplast DNA were amplified and sequenced. The amplification and sequencing success rate,barcoding gap,and NJ trees were used to evaluate the efficiency of species identification. Results: After amplified and sequenced, base deletion was occurred in psb A-trnH sequences of Basella alba. The sequencing success rates of mat K,rbc L,ITS and ITS2 were 100%,100%,78. 75% and64. 28%,respectively. Among the four DNA barcoding sequences,ITS and mat K had remarkable barcoding gap. The NJ tree showed that Anredera cordifolia could differed obviously from its closely related species by ITS and mat K. Conclusion: The sequences of ITS and matK provide an effective and fast tool for the identification and authentication of medicinal plant of Anredera cordifolia and its related species.

Synthesis and antifungal activity of 1,2,3-triazole phenylhydrazone derivatives.

A series of 1,2,3-triazole phenylhydrazone derivatives were designed and synthesized as antifungal agents. Their structures were determined based on (1)H-NMR spectroscopy, MS, elemental analysis and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. The antifungal activities were evaluated against four phytopathogenic fungi including Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Fusarium graminearum and Phytophthora capsici, by the mycelium growth inhibition method in vitro. Compound 5p exhibited significant anti-phytopathogenic activity, with the EC50 values of 0.18, 2.28, 1.01, and 1.85 µg mL(-1), respectively. In vivo testing demonstrated that 5p was effective in the control of rice sheath blight, rape sclerotinia rot and fusarium head blight. A 3D-QSAR model was built for a systematic SAR profile to explore more potent 1,2,3-triazole phenylhydrazone analogs as novel fungicides.

Development of phage immuno-loop-mediated isothermal amplification assays for organophosphorus pesticides in agro-products.

Two immuno-loop-mediated isothermal amplification assays (iLAMP) were developed by using a phage-borne peptide that was isolated from a cyclic eight-peptide phage library. One assay was used to screen eight organophosphorus (OP) pesticides with limits of detection (LOD) between 2 and 128 ng mL(-1). The iLAMP consisted of the competitive immuno-reaction coupled to the LAMP reaction for detection. This method provides positive results in the visual color of violet, while a negative response results in a sky blue color; therefore, the iLAMP allows one to rapidly detect analytes in yes or no fashion. We validated the iLAMP by detecting parathion-methyl, parathion, and fenitrothion in Chinese cabbage, apple, and greengrocery, and the detection results were consistent with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In conclusion, the iLAMP is a simple, rapid, sensitive, and economical method for detecting OP pesticide residues in agro-products with no instrumental requirement.

Design, Synthesis, and Antifungal Evaluation of Diverse Heterocyclic Hydrazide Derivatives as Potential Succinate Dehydrogenase Inhibitors.

Plant pathogenic fungi pose a significant threat to agricultural production, necessitating the development of new and more effective fungicides. The ring replacement strategy has emerged as a highly successful approach in molecular design. In this study, we employed the ring replacement strategy to successfully design and synthesize 32 novel hydrazide derivatives containing diverse heterocycles, such as thiazole, isoxazole, pyrazole, thiadiazole, 1,3,4-oxadiazole, 1,2,4-oxadiazole, thiophene, pyridine, and pyrazine. Their antifungal activities were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Bioassay results revealed that most of the title compounds displayed remarkable antifungal activities in vitro against four tested phytopathogenic fungi, including Fusarium graminearum, Botrytis cinerea, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and Rhizoctonia solani. Especially, compound 5aa displayed a broad spectrum of antifungal activity against F. graminearum, B. cinerea, S. sclerotiorum, and R. solani, with the corresponding EC50 values of 0.12, 4.48, 0.33, and 0.15 µg/mL, respectively. In the antifungal growth assay, compound 5aa displayed a protection efficacy of 75.5% against Fusarium head blight (FHB) at a concentration of 200 µg/mL. In another in vivo antifungal activity evaluation, compound 5aa exhibited a noteworthy protective efficacy of 92.0% against rape Sclerotinia rot (RSR) at a concentration of 100 µg/mL, which was comparable to the positive control tebuconazole (97.5%). The existing results suggest that compound 5aa has a broad-spectrum antifungal activity. Electron microscopy observations showed that compound 5aa might cause mycelial abnormalities and organelle damage in F. graminearum. Moreover, in the in vitro enzyme assay, we found that the target compounds 5aa, 5ab, and 5ca displayed significant inhibitory effects toward succinate dehydrogenase, with the corresponding IC50 values of 1.62, 1.74, and 1.96 µM, respectively, which were superior to that of boscalid (IC50 = 2.38 µM). Additionally, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation results revealed that compounds 5aa, 5ab, and 5ca have the capacity to bind in the active pocket of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), establishing hydrogen-bonding interactions with neighboring amino acid residues.

Molecular Mechanism of Fusarium Fungus Inhibition by Phenazine-1-carboxamide.

Fusarium head blight caused by Fusarium graminearum is a devastating disease in wheat that seriously endangers food security and human health. Previous studies have found that the secondary metabolite phenazine-1-carboxamide produced by biocontrol bacteria inhibited F. graminearum by binding to and inhibiting the activity of histone acetyltransferase Gcn5 (FgGcn5). However, the detailed mechanism of this inhibition remains unknown. Our structural and biochemical studies revealed that phenazine-1-carboxamide (PCN) binds to the histone acetyltransferase (HAT) domain of FgGcn5 at its cosubstrate acetyl-CoA binding site, thus competitively inhibiting the histone acetylation function of the enzyme. Alanine substitution of the residues in the binding site shared by PCN and acetyl-CoA not only decreased the histone acetylation level of the enzyme but also dramatically impacted the development, mycotoxin synthesis, and virulence of the strain. Taken together, our study elucidated a competitive inhibition mechanism of Fusarium fungus by PCN and provided a structural template for designing more potent phenazine-based fungicides.

Design and Synthesis of Novel Diphenyl Ether Carboxamide Derivatives To Control the Phytopathogenic Fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.

Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) caused by the phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum has led to serious losses in the yields of oilseed rape and other crops every year. Here, we designed and synthesized a series of carboxamide derivatives containing a diphenyl ether skeleton by adopting the scaffold splicing strategy. From the results of the mycelium growth inhibition experiment, inhibition rates of compounds 4j and 4i showed more than 80% to control S. sclerotiorum at a dose of 50 µg/mL, which is close to that of the positive control (flubeneteram, 95%). Then, the results of a structure-activity relationship study showed that the benzyl scaffold was very important for antifungal activity and that introducing a halogen atom on the benzyl ring would improve antifungal activity. Furthermore, the results of an in vitro activity test suggested that these novel compounds can inhibit the activity of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), and the binding mode of 4j with SDH was basically similar to that of the flutolanil derivative. Morphological observation of mycelium revealed that compound 4j could cause a damage on the mycelial morphology and cell structure of S. sclerotiorum, resulting in inhibition of the growth of mycelia. Furthermore, in vivo antifungal activity assessment of 4j displayed a good control of S. sclerotiorum (>97%) with a result similar to that of the positive control at a concentration of 200 mg/L. Thus, the diphenyl ether carboxamide skeleton is a new starting point for the discovery of new SDH inhibitors and is worthy of further development.

Targeting Magnaporthe oryzae effector MoErs1 and host papain-like protease OsRD21 interaction to combat rice blast.

Effector proteins secreted by plant pathogenic fungi are important artilleries against host immunity, but there is no precedent of such effectors being explored as antifungal targets. Here we demonstrate that MoErs1, a species-specific effector protein secreted by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, inhibits the function of rice papain-like cysteine protease OsRD21 involved in rice immunity. Disrupting MoErs1-OsRD21 interaction effectively controls rice blast. In addition, we show that FY21001, a structure-function-based designer compound, specifically binds to and inhibits MoErs1 function. FY21001 significantly and effectively controls rice blast in field tests. Our study revealed a novel concept of targeting pathogen-specific effector proteins to prevent and manage crop diseases.

Preparation of 20-HETE using multifunctional enzyme type 2-negative Starmerella bombicola.

The metabolism of arachidonic acid (ARA) by cytochrome P450 ω/ω-1-hydroxylases leads to the formation of 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE), which is an important lipid-signaling molecule involved in regulation of vascular tone, angiogenesis, and inflammation. Development of a simple method to prepare 20-HETE would greatly facilitate the investigation of its biological activities. The nonpathogenic yeast Starmerella bombicola has been shown to convert exogenously added arachidonic acid to 20-HETE via the biosynthetic pathway of sophorolipids; however, the yield was low. Here we demonstrate that genetic knockout of multifunctional enzyme type 2 (MFE-2), which is involved in the ß-oxidation of fatty acids, significantly increases the yield of ARA conversion to 20-HETE and allows practical preparation of 20-HETE.

Synthesis and antioxidant activity of novel Mannich base of 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives possessing 1,4-benzodioxan.

A new series of Mannich base of 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives possessing 1,4-benzodioxan (6a-6ae) were synthesized and characterized by (1)H NMR, ESI-MS and elemental analysis. The structure of 6b was further confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction. All these novel compounds were screened for their in vitro antioxidant activity employing 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) cationic radical (ABTS(+)) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) scavenging assays. Due to the combination of 1,4-benzodioxan, 1,3,4-oxadiazoles and substituted phenyl ring, most of them exhibited nice antioxidant activities. In all of these three assays mentioned above, compounds 6f and 6e showed significant radical scavenging ability comparable to the commonly used antioxidants, BHT and Trolox. Seven compounds with representative substituents or activities were selected for further assays in chemical simulation biological systems-inhibition of microsomal lipid peroxidation (LPO) and protection against 2,2'-azobis (2-amidinopropane hydrochloride) (AAPH) induced DNA strand breakage, in which, 6f and 6e were demonstrated to be of the most potent antioxidant activities.