A series of 1,2,3-triazole phenylhydrazone derivatives were designed and synthesized as antifungal agents. Their structures were determined based on ¹H-NMR spectroscopy, MS, elemental analysis and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. The antifungal activities were evaluated against four phytopathogenic fungi including Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Fusarium graminearum and Phytophthora capsici, by the mycelium growth inhibition method in vitro. Compound 5p exhibited significant anti-phytopathogenic activity, with the EC₅₀ values of 0.18, 2.28, 1.01, and 1.85 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. In vivo testing demonstrated that 5p was effective in the control of rice sheath blight, rape sclerotinia rot and fusarium head blight. A 3D-QSAR model was built for a systematic SAR profile to explore more potent 1,2,3-triazole phenylhydrazone analogs as novel fungicides.

Chilling tolerance was increased in seed germination and root growth of wheat seedlings grown in media containing 20 µg/mL cerebroside C (CC), isolated from the endophytic Phyllosticta sp. TG78. Seeds treated with 20 µg/mL CC at 4°C expressed the higher germination rate (77.78%), potential (23.46%), index (3.44) and the shorter germination time (6.19 d); root growth was also significantly improved by 13.76% in length, 13.44% in fresh weight and 6.88% in dry mass compared to controls. During the cultivation process at 4°C for three days and the followed 24 h at 25°C, lipid peroxidation, expressed by malondialdehyde (MDA) content and relative membrane permeability (RMP) was significantly reduced in CC-treated roots; activities of lipoxygenase (LOX), phospholipid C (PLC) and phospholipid D (PLD) were inhibited by 13.62–62.26%, 13.54–63.93% and 13.90–61.17%, respectively; unsaturation degree of fatty acids was enhanced through detecting the contents of CC-induced linoleic acid, linolenic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid using GC-MS; capacities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were individually increased by 7.69–46.06%, 3.37–37.96%, and −7.00–178.07%. These results suggest that increased chilling tolerance may be due, in part, to the reduction of lipid peroxidation and alternation of lipid composition of roots in the presence of CC.

To date, effectively controlling resistant weeds has been a great challenge in modern agricultural production. Developing new modes of action of herbicides would be an efficient, convenient, and timely means of controlling resistant weeds. In particular, new modes of herbicide action do not appear to have evolutionary resistance or cross-resistance with existing herbicides. However, a few successful herbicides with new modes of action (MoAs) have been marketed in the past 20 years. In this paper, we analyzed limiting factors for the slow development of novel herbicide MoAs. We then summarized the positive herbicide targets for the herbicides that have been discovered in recent years, such as Solanyl Diphosphate Synthase (SPS), Fatty Acid Thioesterase (FAT), Plastid Peptide Deformylase (PDEF), and Dihydroxy-Acid Dehydratase (DHAD). Some commercial herbicide varieties have been obtained based on novel herbicide targets, such as Homogentisate Solanesyltransferase (HST) and Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase (DHODH). This provides a new reference and idea for herbicide molecular design in the future. In addition, some practical and efficient methods were mentioned for the rational design, discovery, and development of targeted herbicides development. In order to overcome the adverse conditions of compound druggability, prodrug strategies are also used in herbicide development, which can optimize the administration, permeability, absorption, and distribution of the original drug molecule or a candidate compound and may provide more possibilities for the development of new herbicides. The development of new herbicides is fascinating, the challenges and rewards are great, and the path to success is becoming more apparent.

Screening for endophytic fungi with antifungal activity is an effective strategy for the discovery of novel biopesticides. Our previous work indicated that Chaetomium globosum CDW7, an endophyte from Ginkgo biloba , exhibited strong inhibitory activity against plant pathogenic fungi in vitro . In this study, we evaluated the CDW7 strain for its antifungal activities against nine phytopathogenic fungi and its biocontrol potential against rape sclerotinia rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum . The fermentation broth of CDW7 could successfully inhibit disease development in S. sclerotiorum -infected rape in vivo with 57.8% protective efficiency, which is comparable to that of carbendazim (59.8%) at 250 μg mL−1. The fermentation broth also expressed significant activity-stability when exposed to 60°C, UV illumination or when stored at 4°C. Furthermore, we found that 10% fermentation broth can promote the germination and growth of rape seedlings. Followed by the bioassay-guided approach, seven known metabolites were isolated and identified by spectroscopic analyses. Among them, chaetoglobosins A and D exhibited inhibitory activity against S. sclerotiorum with IC50 values of 0.35 μg mL−1 and 0.62 μg mL−1, respectively, compared with carbendazim (0.17 μg mL−1). Therefore, our study demonstrated that CDW7 is a promising biocontrol fungus against S. sclerotiorum in agriculture.