1. Academic Validation
  2. The Evaluation of Debranone Series Strigolactone Agonists for Germination Stimulants in Orobanche Species

The Evaluation of Debranone Series Strigolactone Agonists for Germination Stimulants in Orobanche Species

  • J Agric Food Chem. 2024 Sep 4;72(35):19517-19525. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.4c05797.
Kojiro Kawada 1 Ikuo Takahashi 1 Saori Takei 2 Akifumi Nomura 1 Yoshiya Seto 2 Kosuke Fukui 1 Tadao Asami 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
  • 2 Department of Agricultural Chemistry, School of Agriculture, Meiji University, 1-1-1 Higashimita, Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-8571, Japan.
Abstract

Strigolactones (SLs) are plant Hormones that regulate shoot branching. In addition, SLs act as compounds that stimulate the germination of root parasitic weeds, such as Striga spp. and Orobanche spp., which cause significant damage to agriculture worldwide. Thus, SL agonists have the potential to induce suicidal germination, thereby reducing the seed banks of root parasitic weeds in the soil. Particularly, phenoxyfuranone-type SL agonists, known as debranones, exhibit SL-like activity in rice and Striga hermonthica. However, little is known about their effects on Orobanche spp. In this study, we evaluated the germination-inducing activity of debranones against Orobanche minor. Analysis of structure-activity relationships revealed that debranones with electron-withdrawing substituents at the 2,4- or 2,6-position strongly induced the germination of Orobanche minor. Lastly, biological assays indicated that 5-(2-fluoro-4-nitrophenoxy)-3-methylfuran-2(5H)-one (test compound 61) induced germination to a comparable or even stronger extent than GR24, a well-known synthetic SL. Altogether, our data allowed us to infer that this enhanced activity was due to the recognition of compound 61 by the SLs receptor, KAI 2d, in Orobanche minor.

Keywords

debranone; orobanche; seed germination; strigolactone.

Figures
Products