Abstract
Plant activators are agrochemicals that activate the plant immune system, thereby enhancing disease resistance. Due to their prophylactic and durable effects on a wide spectrum of diseases, plant activators can provide synergistic crop protection when used in combination with traditional pest controls. Although plant activators have achieved great success in wet-rice farming practices in Asia, their use is still limited. To isolate novel plant activators applicable to other crops, we screened a chemical library using a method that can selectively identify immune-priming compounds. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of three diuretics, bumetanide, bendroflumethiazide and clopamide, as immune-priming compounds. These drugs upregulate the immunity-related cell death of Arabidopsis suspension-cultured cells induced with an avirulent strain of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato in a concentration-dependent manner. The application of these compounds to Arabidopsis plants confers disease resistance to not only the avirulent but also a virulent strain of the pathogen. Unlike salicylic acid, an endogenous phytohormone that governs disease resistance in response to biotrophic pathogens, the three diuretic compounds analyzed here do not induce PR1 or inhibit plant growth, showing potential as lead compounds in a practical application.
Highlights
Pesticides such as microbicides, fungicides and insecticides are widely used to cover the demand for the expanding world population and biomass [1]
Using a previously established high-throughput chemical screening method for plant immune-priming agents [12], we searched for chemical compounds that enhance cell death in cultured Arabidopsis cells after infection with an avirulent pathogenic bacteria, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst) avrRpm1
We focused on a group containing three different diuretics, bumetanide, bendroflumethiazide and clopamide (Fig. 1)
Summary
Pesticides such as microbicides, fungicides and insecticides are widely used to cover the demand for the expanding world population and biomass [1]. The total crop loss from disease is estimated to be approximately 14% of the total potential production ability of the planet. The percentage of crop loss due to disease and insects has not changed over the last 30 years [2]. The effects of pesticides are often overcome by spontaneous mutations in the pathogenic organisms. Many pesticides are associated with risks to both the environment and food production. Pesticides often affect the targeted organisms and useful predators or antagonistic microorganisms
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