THE EFFECT OF A STRIGOLACTONE MIMIC ON GROWTH AND COLONY MORPHOLOGY IN PHYTOPATHOGENIC FUNGI

Abstract

The paper investigates the effect of a strigolactone mimic, 3-Methyl-5-(benzo[de]isoquinoline-1,3-dione-2-yloxy)-5Hfuran-2-one, bearing a naphthylamide core linked by an ether group to the furan-2-one ring, on hyphal branching and radial fungal growth of two plant pathogenic fungi, Colletotrichum acutatum CBS 112980 and Sclerotinia minor DSM 63016. Our results demonstrated that the tested mimic compound, which is easier to synthetize comparing tostrigolactone analogues, have the same effect as the synthetic analogue GR24, inducing hyphal branching stress response and inhibiting phytopathogen growth. The results are discussed considering their importance for both fundamental studies (role and receptor of SLs D-ring in plant pathogenic fungi) and practical applications - shaping plant rhizomicrobiome.