Due
to the single target but extensive application of commercialized
succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs), resistance problems have
gradually become apparent in recent years. To solve this problem,
a series of novel N-thienyl-1,5-disubstituted-1H-4-pyrazole carboxamide derivatives were designed and synthesized
in this work based on the active skeleton 5-trifluoromethyl-4-pyrazole
carboxamide. The bioassay results indicated that some target compounds
exhibited excellent in vitro antifungal activities
against the eight phytopathogenic fungi tested. Among them, the EC50 values of T
4
, T
6
, and T
9
against Nigrospora oryzae were 5.8, 1.9,
and 5.5 mg/L, respectively. The in vivo protective
and curative activities of 40 mg/L T
6
against rice infected with N. oryzae were
81.5% and 43.0%, respectively. Further studies revealed that T
6
not only significantly inhibited
the growth of N. oryzae mycelia but also effectively
hindered spore germination and germ tube elongation. Morphological
studies using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fluorescence microscopy
(FM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) found that T
6
could affect the mycelium membrane
integrity by increasing cell membrane permeability and causing peroxidation
of cellular lipids, and these results were further verified by measuring
the malondialdehyde (MDA) content. The IC50 value of T
6
against succinate dehydrogenase
(SDH) was 7.2 mg/L, lower than that of the commercialized SDHI penthiopyrad
(3.4 mg/L). Further, ATP content detection and the results after docking T
6
and penthiopyrad suggested that T
6
was a potential SDHI. These studies
demonstrated that active compound T
6
could both inhibit the activity of SDH and affect the integrity
of the cell membrane at the same time via a dual action mode, which
is different from the mode of action of penthiopyrad. Thus, this study
provides a new idea for a strategy to delay resistance and diversify
the structures of SDHIs.