Vectorizing Pro-Insecticide: Influence of Linker Length on Insecticidal Activity and Phloem Mobility of New Tralopyril Derivatives

To improve the proinsecticidal activity and phloem mobility of amino acid–tralopyril conjugates further, nine conjugates were designed and synthesized by introducing glutamic acid to tralopyril, and the length of the linker between glutamic acid and tralopyril ranged from 2 atoms to 10 atoms. The results of insecticidal activity against the third-instar larvae of P. xylostella showed that conjugates 42, 43, 44, and 45 (straight-chain containing 2–5 atoms) exhibited good insecticidal activity, and their LC50 values were 0.2397 ± 0.0366, 0.4413 ± 0.0647, 0.4400 ± 0.0624, and 0.4602 ± 0.0655 mM, respectively. The concentrations of conjugates 43–45 were higher than that of conjugate 42 in the phloem sap at 2 h, and conjugate 43 showed the highest concentration. The introduction of glutamic acid can improve phloem mobility. The in vivo metabolism of conjugates 42 and 43 was investigated in P. xylostella, and the parent compound tralopyril was detected at concentrations of 0.5950 and 0.3172 nmol/kg, respectively. According to the above results, conjugates 42 and 43 were potential phloem mobile pro-insecticide candidates.

The retranslocation of boron is influenced by the nutritional status of cherry tomato plants

Boron (B) retranslocation may confer greater tolerance to B deficiency or toxicity, resulting in plants and fruits with better nutritional quality. Most plants do not demonstrate phloem mobility for B; however, some plants have natural mobility and others express it under stress conditions, such as nutritional stress. Therefore, we investigated the phloem mobility of B in cherry tomato plants with different nutritional status. The plants were cultivated in nutrient solution with adequate and insufficient doses of Potassium (K) and B. Furthermore, the plants received foliar fertilization with B in a mature leaf (F) in a localized form. The B content and amount in leaves near F were compared with leaves of the same age and position on control plants. The experiment was carried out in a protected environment and conducted in a randomized complete block design in a subdivided plot scheme with four replicates. Re-translocation of B between neighboring leaves was observed when the plant was without K deficiency and with B deficiency. In this nutritional status, leaves next to fertilized leaf with B (F) showed higher B amount when compared to leaves of the same position of control plants. Evidence suggests that retranslocation of B over relatively short distances (between leaves) can be influenced by the nutritional status the cherry tomato plants.

Design, Synthesis, Phloem Mobility, and Bioactivities of a Series of Phenazine-1-Carboxylic Acid-Amino Acid Conjugates

Developing fungicides with phloem mobility that can be applied to leaves to control root or vascular pathogens has long been desirable. To achieve this goal, an efficient and economical strategy involves introducing an amino acid into the existing highly active parent pesticide molecule. Hence, 12 L-phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA)-amino acid conjugates 4a–l were designed and synthesized via a simple synthetic route. In vitro bioassays results showed that all synthesized compounds 4a–l exhibited certain fungicidal activities against six tested fungi. Compound 4c exhibited relatively good fungicidal activity against Rhizoctonia solani, and the EC50 value was 0.084 ± 0.006 mmol/L. The phloem mobility experiments revealed that introducing an amino acid to PCA could effectively endow PCA with phloem mobility in R. communis L. Among them, nine conjugates were found in phloem sap, and L-PCA-Valine 4d exhibited the highest phloem mobility. Analysis results from the prediction of the Kleier model indicated that an active carrier-mediated mechanism may be involved in L-PCA-amino acid conjugates—a result that needs to be confirmed and complemented with further tests. The current research provides useful data for modifying non-phloem-mobile fungicidal molecules to phloem-mobile types.