Molecular design and synthesis of novel salicyl glycoconjugates as elicitors against plant diseases.

A new series of salicyl glycoconjugates containing hydrazide and hydrazone moieties were designed and synthesized. The bioassay indicated that the novel compounds had no in vitro fungicidal activity but showed significant in vivo antifungal activity against the tested fungal pathogens. Some compounds even had superior activity than the commercial fungicides in greenhouse trial. The results of RT-PCR analysis showed that the designed salicyl glycoconjugates could induce the expression of LOX1 and Cs-AOS2, which are the specific marker genes of jasmonate signaling pathway, to trigger the plant defense resistance.