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Zhou H, Jian Y, Shao Q, Guo F, Zhang M, Wan F, Yang L, Liu Y, Yang L, Li Y, Yang P, Li Z, Li S, Ding W. Development of Sustainable Insecticide Candidates for Protecting Pollinators: Insight into the Bioactivities, Selective Mechanism of Action and QSAR of Natural Coumarin Derivatives against Aphids. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY 2023; 71:18359-18374. [PMID: 37965968 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c03493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
Plants employ abundant toxic secondary metabolites to withstand insect attack, while pollinators can tolerate some natural defensive compounds. Coumarins, as promising green alternatives to chemical insecticides, possess wide application prospects in the crop protection field. Herein, the bioactivities of 30 natural coumarin derivatives against Aphis gossypii were assessed and revealed that 6-methylcoumarin exhibited potent aphicidal activity against aphids but displayed no toxicity to honeybees. Additionally, using biochemical, bioinformatic, and molecular assays, we confirmed that the action mode of 6-methylcoumarin against aphids was by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Meanwhile, functional assays revealed that the difference in action site, which located in Lys585 in aphid AChE (equivalent to Val548 in honeybee AChE), was the principal reason for 6-methylcoumarin being toxic to aphids but safe to pollinators. This action site was further validated by mutagenesis data, which uncovered how 6-methylcoumarin was unique selective to the aphid over honeybee or mammalian AChE. Furthermore, a 2D-QSAR model was established, revealing that the central structural feature was H3m, which offers guidance for the future design of more potent coumarin compounds. This work provides a sustainable strategy to take advantage of coumarin analogues for pest management while protecting nontarget pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Zhou
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Yufan Jian
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Qingyi Shao
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Fuyou Guo
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Miao Zhang
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Fenglin Wan
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Liang Yang
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Ying Liu
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Li Yang
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Yanhong Li
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Pinglong Yang
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Zongquan Li
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Shili Li
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
| | - Wei Ding
- Institute of Pesticide Science, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China
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Berestetskiy A. Modern Approaches for the Development of New Herbicides Based on Natural Compounds. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:234. [PMID: 36678947 PMCID: PMC9864389 DOI: 10.3390/plants12020234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/24/2022] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Weeds are a permanent component of anthropogenic ecosystems. They require strict control to avoid the accumulation of their long-lasting seeds in the soil. With high crop infestation, many elements of crop production technologies (fertilization, productive varieties, growth stimulators, etc.) turn out to be practically meaningless due to high yield losses. Intensive use of chemical herbicides (CHs) has led to undesirable consequences: contamination of soil and wastewater, accumulation of their residues in the crop, and the emergence of CH-resistant populations of weeds. In this regard, the development of environmentally friendly CHs with new mechanisms of action is relevant. The natural phytotoxins of plant or microbial origin may be explored directly in herbicidal formulations (biorational CHs) or indirectly as scaffolds for nature-derived CHs. This review considers (1) the main current trends in the development of CHs that may be important for the enhancement of biorational herbicides; (2) the advances in the development and practical application of natural compounds for weed control; (3) the use of phytotoxins as prototypes of synthetic herbicides. Some modern approaches, such as computational methods of virtual screening and design of herbicidal molecules, development of modern formulations, and determination of molecular targets, are stressed as crucial to make the exploration of natural compounds more effective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Berestetskiy
- Laboratory of Phytotoxicology and Biotechnology, All-Russian Institute of Plant Protection, Pushkin, 196608 Saint-Petersburg, Russia
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Xu J, Rong S, Qin Z, Shen G, Wu Y, Zhang Z, Qian K. Preparation of Berberine@carbon Dots Nano-Formulation: Synthesis, Characterization and Herbicidal Activity against Echinochloa crus-galli and Amaranthus retroflexus Two Common Species of Weed. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:4482. [PMID: 36558335 PMCID: PMC9782101 DOI: 10.3390/nano12244482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Berberine (Ber) is easy to synthesize and has a variety of biological and pharmacological activities. At present, the existing studies on berberine have focused predominantly on its antibacterial activity; its herbicidal activity is rarely reported. In addition, there are a number of preparations of berberine, which are not enough to solve its shortcomings of low solubility and biological activity and the difficult storage of berberine. Here, berberine was combined with carbon dots to obtain carbon dots-berberine (CDs-Ber) nano formulation. The fluorescence quenching results showed that the CDs-Ber nano drug delivery system was successfully constructed, and the fluorescence quenching mechanism of the two was static quenching. The bioassay results showed that CDs had no adverse effects on the growth of barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli) and redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus), and had high biocompatibility. Berberine and CDs-Ber predominantly affected the root growth of barnyard grass and redroot pigweed and could enhance the growth inhibition effect on weeds, to some extent. The results of the protective enzyme system showed that both berberine and CDs-Ber could increase the activities of Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Peroxidase (POD), and Catalase (CAT) in barnyard grass, and CDs-Ber had a stronger stress effect on barnyard grass than berberine. The determination of the number of bacterial communities in the soil after the berberine and CDs-Ber treatments showed that there was no significant difference in the effects of the two, indicating that CDs-Ber would not have more negative impacts on the environment. The CDs-Ber nano formulation improved the biological activity of berberine, enhanced the herbicidal effect, and was relatively safe for soil colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junhu Xu
- College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Shuang Rong
- College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Ziqi Qin
- College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Guangmao Shen
- College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Yan Wu
- The National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Zan Zhang
- College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Kun Qian
- College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
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Li D, Bi X, Ma J, Zhang X, Jiang K, Zhu X, Huang J, Zhou L. Natural herbicidal alkaloid berberine regulates the expression of thalianol and marneral gene clusters in Arabidopsis thaliana. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2022; 78:2896-2908. [PMID: 35415871 DOI: 10.1002/ps.6914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Revised: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Berberine is a plant-derived herbicidal alkaloid. The herbicidal mechanism of berberine is still not clear. In this study, our aim is to clarify the mechanism of berberine inhibiting the root growth of Arabidopsis thaliana, aiming at providing new insight into identifying the molecular targets of berberine. RESULTS The whole-genome RNA sequencing had revealed that 403 genes were down-regulated, and 422 genes were up-regulated in Arabidopsis roots with berberine treatment. According to KEGG and GO analysis, the expression of two genes AT5G48010 (Thas) and AT5G42600 (MRN1) which are in the sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis pathway were affected most. These two genes belong to thalianol and marneral gene clusters. RT-PCR showed that Arabidopsis responds to berberine by inhibiting root growth through repressing the expression of thalianol and marneral gene clusters, which was independent of the upstream effectors ARP6 and HTA9-1. GC-MS analysis showed that berberine could inhibit THAH in the biosynthetic network of triterpenoid gene cluster in Arabidopsis and thus cause the accumulation of thalianol. CONCLUSION Our study indicated the repression of the thalianol and marneral gene clusters as the primary mechanism of action of berberine in Arabidopsis, which may result in plant growth defects by interrupting the thalianol metabolic pathway. This provides novel clues as to the possible molecular herbicidal mechanism of berberine. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dandan Li
- Key Lab of Natural Pesticides & Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoyang Bi
- Key Lab of Natural Pesticides & Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jingjing Ma
- Key Lab of Natural Pesticides & Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaohong Zhang
- Key Lab of Natural Pesticides & Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Keni Jiang
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Xuezhen Zhu
- Key Lab of Natural Pesticides & Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiguang Huang
- Key Lab of Natural Pesticides & Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lijuan Zhou
- Key Lab of Natural Pesticides & Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
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