The coumarin compound of osthole was extracted from Cnidium monnieri and identified by LC-MS and 1H- and 13C-NMR. Osthole was tested for anti-virus activity against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) using the half-leaf method. The results showed that stronger antiviral activity on TMV infection appeared in Nicotiana glutinosa than that of eugenol and ningnanmycin, with inhibitory, protective, and curative effects of 72.57%, 70.26%, and 61.97%, respectively. Through observation of the TMV particles, we found that osthole could directly affect the viral particles. Correspondingly, the level of coat protein detected by Western blot was significantly reduced when the concentrations of osthole increased in tested plants compared to that of the control. These results suggest that osthole has anti-TMV activity and may be used as a biological reagent to control the plant virus in the half-leaf method.
Keywords: Cnidium monnieri; half-leaf method; inhibitory; osthole; tobacco mosaic virus.