Inhibition of Fusarium Graminearum Growth and Deoxynivalenol Biosynthesis by Phenolic Compounds

Abstract

Phytopathogenic fungi infections have become a major threat to reduce crop yields and dampen human health globally. The mycelium growth inhibition method was adopted to evaluate the antifungal activity of commercially available natural and natural‐like phenols, bioassay results showed that most phenolic compounds exhibited excellent fungicidal activity against Fusarium graminearum, Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Vasinfectum, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and Magnaporthe oryzae. Particularly, compound Z‐5 exhibited an excellent inhibition rate of 100.00 % at 100 μg/mL and EC50 value of 3.20 μg/mL against Fusarium graminearum. In addition, compound Z‐5 displayed the best efficacy and superior fungicidal activity compared to azoxystrobin (EC50=9.78 μg/mL) based on mycelial growth and spore germination. Significantly, compound Z‐5 at 200 μg/mL reduced 4‐deoxynivalenol production by over 98 % compared to the control, through down‐regulation of the gene expression of Tri5 and Tri6. Preliminary mechanism studies revealed that compound Z‐5 might exert its fungicidal activity by inducing accumulation of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation, and causing cell membrane destruction and DNA synthesis interference. This study demonstrated the potent fungicidal activity of the natural‐like phenolic compound Z‐5 and highlighted its potential as an alternative agent to control F. graminearum.

2-Hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde, a more effective antifungal aroma than vanillin and its derivatives against Fusarium graminearum, destroys cell membranes, inhibits DON biosynthesis, and performs a promising antifungal effect on wheat grains

“…Qi et al reported that salicylic acid at higher concentrations (≥0.5 mM) rather than lower concentrations could strongly reduce the production of DON ( Qi et al, 2012 ). Other studies reported a dose-dependent manner of antifungal agents including z-5, a natural-like phenolic compound ( Ma et al, 2022 ), hop essential oil ( Jiang et al, 2023 ), thyme oil ( Qi et al, 2023 ), myriocin ( Shao et al, 2021 ), etc. To examine the relationship between lipid peroxidation and DON production, correlation analysis was carried out.…”

Stilbenoids as Promising Natural Product-Based Solutions in a Race against Mycotoxigenic Fungi: A Comprehensive Review

“…A review by Martins et al indicated that the impairment of nucleic acid biosynthesis is one of the reported antifungal mechanisms associated with phenolic compounds toward Candida species. Interference with F. graminearum DNA biosynthesis has also been observed for another phenolic compound, called Z-5 , which partly explains its inhibition of F. graminearum growth and TCTB production …”

“…Interference with F. graminearum DNA biosynthesis has also been observed for another phenolic compound, called Z-5, which partly explains its inhibition of F. graminearum growth and TCTB production. 99…”

“…Another possible mechanism of action of stilbenoids is related to their potential to interfere with metabolisms of fungal nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). ,, Kong et al supposed that pterostilbene (0.4 mg/L) might penetrate into the G. citri-autantii cell nucleus and then interact with the fungal DNA molecules, thereby leading to increased DNA degradation. This study has also evidenced the RNA binding ability of this stilbenoid compound, which assumes that pterostilbene may affect ribonucleolytic activity and induce the degradation of fungal rRNA.…”