Equol, a Clinically Important Metabolite, Inhibits the Development and Pathogenicity of Magnaporthe oryzae, the Causal Agent of Rice Blast Disease
Jiaoyu Wang,
Ling Li,
Yeshi Yin,
Zhuokan Gu,
Rongyao Chai,
Yanli Wang,
Guochang Sun
Affiliations
Jiaoyu Wang
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Zhejiang Sustainable Pest and Disease Control, Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Ling Li
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Zhejiang Sustainable Pest and Disease Control, Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Yeshi Yin
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Zhejiang Sustainable Pest and Disease Control, Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Zhuokan Gu
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Zhejiang Sustainable Pest and Disease Control, Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Rongyao Chai
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Zhejiang Sustainable Pest and Disease Control, Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Yanli Wang
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Zhejiang Sustainable Pest and Disease Control, Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Guochang Sun
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Zhejiang Sustainable Pest and Disease Control, Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Equol, a metabolite of soybean isoflavone daidzein, has been proven to have various bioactivities related to human health, but little is known on its antifungal activity to plant fungal pathogens. Magnaporthe oryzae is a phytopathogenic fungus that causes rice blast, a devastating disease on rice. Here, we demonstrated that equol influences the development and pathogenicity of M. oryzae. Equol showed a significant inhibition to the mycelial growth, conidial generation and germination, and appressorial formation of M. oryzae. As a result, equol greatly reduced the virulence of M. oryzae on rice and barley leaves. The antifungal activity of equol was also found in several other plant fungal pathogens. These findings expand our knowledge on the bioactivities of equol.
