Synthesis and bioactivity of 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione derivatives against type III secretion system of Xanthomonas oryzae

Abstract

Targeting virulence factors of bacterial without affecting their growth and survival, has been an initiative strategy for the development of novel anti-microbial agents. The type III secretion system (T3SS), one of essential and highly conserved virulence factors in most Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria, has been regarded as an effective target that developed new anti-microbial drugs. Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is one of the most important bacterial pathogens on rice, which causes leaf blight disease. To discover potential anti-virulence agents against the pathogens, a new series of 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione derivatives containing 5-phenyl-2-furan were designed and synthesized. Their structures were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, MS, and elemental analysis. All the title compounds inhibited the promoter activity of a harpin gene hpa1, significantly, that were further checked for the impact on bacterial growth. The results indicated that treatment of Xoo with the title compound III-7 did not affect bacterial growth or survival. Moreover, quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that the expression of the Xoo T3SS was suppressed by treatment with the inhibitor. The mRNA levels of representative genes in the hrp (hypersensitive response and pathogenicity) cluster, as well as the regulatory genes hrpG and hrpX, were reduced. Finally, the in vivo test demonstrated that the compounds could reduce the disease symptoms of Xoo on the rice cultivar (Oryza sativa) IR24.

Keywords: 1,3-Thiazolidine-2-thione; Small molecule inhibitors; Type III secretion system (T3SS); Virulence factors; Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo).