Peptide Extracts from Seven Medicinal Plants Discovered to Inhibit Oomycete Phytophthora infestans, a Causative Agent of Potato Late Blight Disease

Abstract

We report the inhibitory effect of peptide extracts obtained from seven medicinal plants against a causative agent of late blight disease Phytophthora infestans. We find that all the extracts possess inhibitory activity toward the zoospores output, zoosporangium germination, and the development of P. infestans on potato disc tubers at different quantitative levels. Based on the biological effects detected, an extract of common horsetail (Equisetum arvense) biomass is recognized as the most effective and is selected for further structural analysis. We perform a combination of amino acid analysis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, which reveal the presence of Asn/Asp- and Gln/Glu-rich short peptides with molecular masses in the range of 500–900 Da and not exceeding 1500 Da as the maximum. Analytical anion-exchange HPLC is successfully applied for separation of the peptide extract from common horsetail (E. arvense). We collect nine dominant components that are combined in two groups with differences in retention times. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the prevalent compounds after analytical ion-exchange HPLC allows us to identify them as peptide fragments of functionally active proteins associated with photosynthesis, aquatic transport, and chitin binding. The anti-oomycete effects may be associated with the conversion of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase to produce a number of biologically active anionic peptides with possible regulatory functions. These data inform our knowledge regarding biologically active peptide fragments; they are the components of programmed or induced proteolysis of plant proteins and can realize secondary antimicrobial functions.

A review of biocontrol agents in controlling late blight of potatoes and tomatoes caused by Phytophthora infestans and the underlying mechanisms

“…Such results suggest that this natural compound has promising application prospects as a biocontrol agent in late blight control. Rogozhin et al 93 . found that peptide extracts obtained from seven medicinal plants have inhibitory effects against Phytophthora infestans , with those from common horsetail ( Equisetum arvense ) being the most effective.…”

“…Such results suggest that this natural compound has promising application prospects as a biocontrol agent in late blight control. Rogozhin et al 93 found that peptide extracts obtained from seven medicinal plants have inhibitory effects against Phytophthora infestans, with those from common horsetail (Equisetum arvense) being the most effective. The authors speculated that the bioactive peptides are the components of programmed or induced proteolysis of plant proteins, which can realize secondary antimicrobial functions.…”

Screening and efficacy evaluation of antagonistic fungi against Phytophthora infestans and combination with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for biocontrol of late blight in potato

“…Whereas literature has amply documented the biocontrol of late blight of potato using plant or bacterial extracts (Quintanilla et al, 2002;Stephan et al, 2005;Olanya and Larkin, 2006;Dorn et al, 2007;Wang et al, 2007;Hultberg et al, 2010;Moushib et al, 2013;Bengtsson et al, 2015;Hunziker et al, 2015;Rogozhin et al, 2020;Rani et al, 2021), fewer studies have reported biocontrol of potato late blight and control of the pathogen growth with metabolites extracted from fungi. For instance, the application of oosporein, an antifungal metabolite isolated from Verticillium psalliotae, fusaric acid from F. oxysporum, and culture extracts from Trichoderma and Chaetomium species (i.e., C. cochliodes and C. aureum) have been reported to affect the growth of P. infestans in vitro (Nagaoka et al, 2004;Son et al, 2008;Bae et al, 2016;Linkies et al, 2021).…”

Potential of basic substances in plant protection to reduce Podosphaera pannosa in cut roses

“…The most common compounds found in field horsetail are flavonoids, phenolic acids, alkaloids, phytosterols, tannins, and triterpenoids (Četojević-Simin et al 2010;Godlewska et al 2020). Some of the substances were studied for inhibition properties of the phytopathogenic late blight disease fungi Phytophthora infestans (Rogozhin et al 2020;Taylor et al 2022).…”