Natural Urease Inhibitors Reduce the Severity of Disease Symptoms, Dependent on the Lifestyle of the Pathogens

Abstract

The development of new anti-ureolytic compounds is of great interest due to the newly discovered role of urease inhibitors in crop protection. Purine degradation and the generation of ammonium by urease are required for the full virulence of biotrophic and hemibiotrophic fungal plant pathogens. Accordingly, chemicals displaying urease inhibitor activity may be used as a novel class of fungicides. Several urease inhibitors belonging to different chemical classes are known, and some compounds have been developed as urea fertilizer additives. We tested whether the natural urease inhibitors p-benzoquinone (p-HQ) and hydroquinone (HQ), as well as the synthetic inhibitors isopropoxy carbonyl phosphoric acid amide (iCPAA), benzyloxy carbonyl phosphoric acid amide (bCPAA), and dipropyl-hexamino-1,3 diphosphazenium chloride (DDC), prevent or delay plant infection caused by pathogens differing in lifestyles and host plants. p-BQ, HQ, and DCC not only protected maize from infection by the hemibiotroph C. graminicola, but also inhibited the infection process of biotrophs such as the wheat powdery mildew fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici and the broad bean rust fungus Uromyces viciae-fabae. Interestingly, the natural quinone-based compounds even reduced the symptom severity of the necrotrophic fungi, i.e., the grey mold pathogen B. cinerea and the Southern Leaf Spot fungus C. heterostrophus, to some extent. The urease inhibitors p-BQ, HQ, and DCC interfered with appressorial penetration and confirmed the appropriateness of urease inhibitors as novel fungicidal agents.

Silversol® (a Colloidal Nanosilver Formulation) Inhibits Growth of Antibiotic-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus by Disrupting Its Physiology in Multiple Ways

“…Its down-regulation may be expected to disturb metal homeostasis in bacterial populations as many important enzymes rely on their metal cofactors for proper functioning. This permease is also believed to contribute toward the virulence of S. aureus , as it has been shown to be necessary for full urease activity in vitro [ 89 ], and urease is well recognized as a virulence factor in multiple pathogenic bacteria [ 90 , 91 , 92 ].…”

The molecular structure, biological roles, and inhibition of plant pathogenic fungal chitin deacetylases

“…The prohibition of plant-protecting chemicals in agriculture provides a compelling case for the urgent need of developing novel fungicides with unique mechanisms of action to preserve a potent range of chemical options for effectively managing destructive diseases ( Aliyeva-Schnorr et al., 2023 ). It is crucial to carefully evaluate their selectivity in order to minimize potential harm to non-target species, such as humans.…”