Rhodamine-based fluorescent sensors for the rapid and selective off-on detection of salicylic acid and their use in plant cell imaging.

Salicylic acid (SA) is a key hormone that regulates plant growth and immunity, and understanding the physiologic processes induced by SA enables the development of highly pathogen-resistant crops. Here, we report the synthesis of three new SA-sensors (R1-R3) from hydroxyphenol derivatives of a rhodamine-acylhydrazone scaffold and their characterization by NMR and HRMS. Spectroscopic analyses revealed that structural variations in R1-R3 resulted in sensors with different sensitivities for SA. Sensor R2 (with the 3-hydroxyphenyl modification) outperformed R1 (2-hydroxyphenyl) and R3 (4-hydroxyphenyl). The SA-detection limit of R2 is 0.9 µM with an ultra-fast response time (<60 s). In addition, their plant imaging indicated that designed sensor R2 is useful for the further study of SA biology and the discovery and development of new inducers of plant immunity.

Novel Sulfonamide Derivatives Containing a Piperidine Moiety as New Bactericide Leads for Managing Plant Bacterial Diseases.

Plant bacterial diseases are an intractable problem due to the fact that phytopathogens have acquired strong resistances for traditional pesticides, resulting in restricting the quality and yield of agricultural products around the world. To develop new agrochemical alternatives, we prepared a novel series of sulfanilamide derivatives containing piperidine fragments and assessed their antibacterial potency. The bioassay results revealed that most molecules displayed excellent in vitro antibacterial potency towards Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac). In particular, molecule C4 exhibited outstanding inhibitory activity toward Xoo with EC50 value of 2.02 µg mL-1, which was significantly better than those of the commercial agents bismerthiazol (EC50 = 42.38 µg mL-1) and thiodiazole copper (EC50 = 64.50 µg mL-1). A series of biochemical assays confirmed that compound C4 interacted with dihydropteroate synthase, and irreversibly damaged the cell membrane. In vivo assays showed that the molecule C4 presented acceptable curative and protection activities of 34.78% and 39.83%, respectively, at 200 µg mL-1, which were greater than those of thiodiazole and bismerthiazol. This study highlights the valuable insights for the excavation and development of new bactericides that can concurrently target dihydropteroate synthase and bacterial cell membranes.

Recent progress and outlooks in rhodamine-based fluorescent probes for detection and imaging of reactive oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur species.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS), and reactive sulfur species (RSS) serve as vital mediators essential for preserving intracellular redox homeostasis within the human body, thereby possessing significant implications across physiological and pathological domains. Nevertheless, deviations from normal levels of ROS, RNS, and RSS disturb redox homeostasis, leading to detrimental consequences that compromise bodily integrity. This disruption is closely linked to the onset of various human diseases, thereby posing a substantial threat to human health and survival. Small-molecule fluorescent probes exhibit considerable potential as analytical instruments for the monitoring of ROS, RNS, and RSS due to their exceptional sensitivity and selectivity, operational simplicity, non-invasiveness, localization capabilities, and ability to facilitate in situ optical signal generation for real-time dynamic analyte monitoring. Due to their distinctive transition from their spirocyclic form (non-fluorescent) to their ring-opened form (fluorescent), along with their exceptional light stability, broad wavelength range, high fluorescence quantum yield, and high extinction coefficient, rhodamine fluorophores have been extensively employed in the development of fluorescent probes. This review primarily concentrates on the investigation of fluorescent probes utilizing rhodamine dyes for ROS, RNS, and RSS detection from the perspective of different response groups since 2016. The scope of this review encompasses the design of probe structures, elucidation of response mechanisms, and exploration of biological applications.

Discovery and Structural Optimization of 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-ß-carbolines as Novel Reactive Oxygen Species Inducers for Controlling Intractable Plant Bacterial Diseases.

Nowadays, reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been acknowledged as promising bactericidal targets against pesticide-resistant bacteria. Herein, to further excavate more excellent ROS inducers, simple 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-ß-carboline derivatives containing a 3-aminopropanamide moiety were prepared and assessed for their antibacterial potency. Notably, three promising compounds displayed significant antibacterial potency. Compound I29 exhibits excellent in vitro bioactivity, with an EC50 value of 5.73 µg/mL, and admirable in vivo activities (protective activity of 55.74% and curative activity of 65.50%) toward Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Compound I16 has good activity in vitro, with an EC50 of 3.43 µg/mL, and outstanding bioactivities in vivo (protective activity of 92.50% and curative activity of 59.68%) against Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri. Compound I6 shows excellent in vitro bioactivity (EC50 = 2.86 µg/mL) and significant protective activity (94.02%) for preventing Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae. Antibacterial mechanism investigations indicate that these compounds disrupt the balance of the redox system to kill bacteria. These simple 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-ß-carboline derivatives are promising leads to the discovery of bactericidal agents.

Highly Selective and Rapid "Turn-On" Fluorogenic Chemosensor for Detection of Salicylic Acid in Plants and Food Samples.

Salicylic acid (SA) is one of the chemical molecules, involved in plant growth and immunity, thereby contributing to the control of pests and pathogens, and even applied in fruit and vegetable preservation. However, only a few tools have ever been designed or executed to understand the physiological processes induced by SA or its function in plant immunity and residue detection in food. Hence, three Rh6G-based fluorogenic chemosensors were synthesized to detect phytohormone SA based on the "OFF-ON" mechanism. The probes showed high selectivity, ultrafast response time (<60 s), and nanomolar detection limit for SA. Moreover, the probe possessed outstanding profiling that can be successfully used for SA imaging of callus and plants. Furthermore, the fluorescence pattern indicated that SA could occur in the distal transport in plants. These remarkable results contribute to improving our understanding of the multiple physiological and pathological processes involved in SA for plant disease diagnosis and for the development of immune activators. In addition, SA detection in some agricultural products used probes to extend the practical application because its use is prohibited in some countries and is harmful to SA-sensitized persons. Interestingly, the as-obtained test paper displayed that SA could be imaged by ultraviolet (UV) and was directly visible to the naked eye. Given the above outcomes, these probes could be used to monitor SA in vitro and in vivo, including, but not limited to, plant biology, food residue detection, and sewage detection.

Discovery of novel rost-4-ene derivatives as potential plant activators for preventing phytopathogenic bacterial infection: Design, synthesis and biological studies.

BACKGROUND: Gradually aggravated disease caused by phytopathogenic bacteria severely restricts food security and crop yield, and few pesticides can relieve this severe situation. Thus, development and excavation of new agrochemicals with high bioactivity and novel action mechanism may be a feasible strategy to control intractable bacterial diseases. As a privileged molecular framework, steroid molecules exhibit diversiform bioactivities. Herein, a series of novel androst-4-ene derivatives were designed, synthesised and investigated for their antibacterial behaviour to excavate novel agrochemicals on the base of steroid molecules. RESULTS: Bioassay results indicated that target compounds displayed high bioactivities toward three destructive phytopathogenic bacteria, including Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac) and Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa). Compound III19 displayed excellent in vitro antibacterial profiling (EC50  = 2.37 mg L-1 towards Xoo, EC50  = 2.10 mg L-1 towards Xac, EC50  = 9.50 mg L-1 towards Psa). Furthermore, compound III19 showed outstanding in vivo protective activities, with values of 81.81% and 58.75% towards kiwifruit bacterial canker and rice bacterial leaf blight, respectively. Analysis of the antibacterial mechanism disclosed that compound III19 enhanced host defence enzyme activities superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and catalase (CAT) and increased the salicylate synthase content to induce host resistance. In addition, compound III19 increased the membrane permeability, destroyed the cell membrane and killed the bacteria. CONCLUSION: Given these profiles of target compounds, we highlight a new strategy for controlling intractable plant bacterial diseases by inducing plant resistance and targeting the bacterial cell membrane. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Fabrication of Versatile Pyrazole Hydrazide Derivatives Bearing a 1,3,4-Oxadiazole Core as Multipurpose Agricultural Chemicals against Plant Fungal, Oomycete, and Bacterial Diseases.

Developing multipurpose agricultural chemicals is appealing in crop protection, thus eventually realizing the reduction and efficient usage of pesticides. Herein, an array of versatile pyrazole hydrazide derivatives bearing a 1,3,4-oxadiazole core were initially synthesized and biologically evaluated the antifungal, antioomycetes, and antibacterial activities. In addition, the pyrazole ring was replaced by the correlative pyrrole, thiazole, and indole scaffolds to extend the molecular diversity. The results showed that most of these hybrid compounds were empowered with multifunctional bioactivities, which are exemplified by compounds a1-a6, b1-b3, b7, b10, b13, and b18. For the antifungal activity, the minimal EC50 values could afford 0.47 (a2), 1.05 (a2), 0.65 (a1), and 1.32 µg/mL (b3) against the corresponding fungi Gibberella zeae (G. z.), Fusarium oxysporum, Botryosphaeria dothidea, and Rhizoctonia solani. In vivo pot experiments against corn scab (caused by G. z.) revealed that the compound a2 was effective with protective and curative activities of 90.2 and 86.3% at 200 µg/mL, which was comparable to those of fungicides boscalid and fluopyram. Further molecular docking study and enzymatic activity analysis (IC50 = 3.21 µM, a2) indicated that target compounds were promising succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors. Additionally, compounds b2 and a4 yielded superior anti-oomycete and antibacterial activities toward Phytophora infestins and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae with EC50 values of 2.92 and 8.43 µg/mL, respectively. In vivo trials against rice bacterial blight provided the control efficiency within 51.2-55.3% (a4) at 200 µg/mL, which were better than that of bismerthiazol. Given their multipurpose characteristics, these structures should be positively explored as agricultural chemicals.