Naturally occurring thiophenes possess excellent nematicidal and fungicidal activities. However, thiophenes often have limited application in soil due to their light-dependent toxicity given the living and reproductive condition of soil-borne pathogens. In this study, six new (1–6) and six known thiophenes (7–12) were isolated from Echinops grijsii. Compounds 1−2, 4–5, 8–9, 11 , and 12 showed stronger nematicidal activity against Meloidogyne incognita than commercial nematicide abamectin. 4–10 were demonstrated as nonphototoxic thiophenes. Among these, 4 and 8 were the most potent thiophenes (LC50 values 2.57 and 0.91 μg/mL in light, 1.80 and 0.86 μg/mL in dark, respectively) against M. incognita. SAR revealed that thiophene skeleton was essential for nematicidal activity, while disubstituted groups were helpful for nonphototoxicity. Although an increased number of acetylenes improved activity, it decreased nonphototoxicity. Acyl groups could suppress the effects of light on activity, with the level of inhibitory effects depending on its number and chain length, while chlorine played important roles in promoting activity. Additionally, compounds 1–2, 4–5, 7, 8, and 10 displayed antifungal activity against six soil-borne fungi in various degrees. The discovery of nonphototoxic thiophenes and elucidation of SAR provide important information for the exploitation and utilization of thiophenes in the integrative management regarding disease complexes caused by the combination of root-knot nematode and soil-borne fungi.

Graphical Abstract