Mode of action of the natural herbicide radulanin A as an inhibitor of photosystem II.

Abstract

Radulanin A is a natural 2,5-dihydrobenzoxepin synthesized by several liverworts of the Radula genus. Breakthroughs in the total synthesis of radulanin A paved the way to the discovery of its phytotoxic activity. Nevertheless, its mode of action remained so far unknown and was investigated in Arabidopsis thaliana. Radulanin A phytotoxicity was associated with cell death and partially depended on light exposure. Photosynthesis measurements based on chlorophyll a fluorescence evidenced that radulanin A and a Radula chromene inhibited photosynthetic electron transport with IC50 of 95 μM and 100 μM, respectively. We established a strong correlation between inhibition of photosynthesis and phytotoxicity for a range of radulanin A analogs. Based on these data, we also determined that radulanin A phytotoxicity was abolished when the hydroxyl group was modified and was modulated by the presence of the heterocycle and its aliphatic chain. Thermoluminescence studies highlighted that radulanin A targeted the QB site of the Photosystem II with a similar mode of action as 3-(3,4-dichloropheny)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU). We establish that radulanin A targets Photosystem II, expanding QB sites inhibitors to bibenzyl compounds. The identification of an easy-to-synthesize analog of radulanin A with similar MoA and efficiency might be useful for future herbicide development. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.