Fungistatic activity of Zanthoxylum rhoifolium Lam. bark extracts against fungal plant pathogens and investigation on mechanism of action in Botrytis cinerea |
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Authors: | Gennaro Carotenuto Paola Tarantino Mariaevelina Alfieri Antonella Leone Nunziatina De Tommasi |
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Institution: | 1. Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura – FRC Unit, Via Torrino, 2, 81100 Caserta, Italy;2. Department of Pharmacy, University of Fisciano, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy |
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Abstract: | Plant-derived compounds are emerging as an alternative choice to synthetic fungicides. Chloroform–methanol extract, obtained from the bark of Zanthoxylum rhoifolium, a member of Rutaceae, showed a fungistatic effect on Botrytis cinerea, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Clonostachys rosea, when added to the growth medium at different concentrations. A fraction obtained by gel separation and containing the alkaloid O-Methylcapaurine showed significant fungistatic effect against B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum, two of the most destructive phytopathogenic fungi. The underlying mechanism of such an inhibition was further investigated in B. cinerea, a fungus highly prone to develop fungicide resistance, by analysing the expression levels of a set of genes (BcatrB, P450, CYP51 and TOR). O-Methylcapaurine inhibited the expression of all the analysed genes. In particular, the expression of BcatrB gene, encoding a membrane drug transporter involved in the resistance to a wide range of xenobiotic compounds, was strongly inhibited (91%). |
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Keywords: | fungicide resistance fungal bioassays plant-derived compounds RT-qPCR drug-transporter inhibition |
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