病原微生物通过其特有的机制破坏植物的防御屏障, 引发病害, 给农业生产造成损失。研究病菌致病机制, 能够启发人们探索病害防控的新思路。四川农业大学陈学伟团队阐明了稻瘟病菌的一种特殊结构——侵染钉的发生机制, 发现超长碳链脂肪酸合成酶在此过程中发挥重要作用。以超长碳链脂肪酸合成酶为靶点, 该团队寻找到了抑制超长碳链脂肪酸生物合成, 进而抑制侵染结构发生的化合物。这些化合物可广谱抑制多种病原真菌在动物和植物宿主上的致病力, 为创制新型农药开拓了新思路。

Pathogenic microbes employ specialized mechanisms to breach defense of host plants, causing diseases on plants and losses in agricultural production. Understanding mechanisms of pathogenesis offers new avenues for disease control. A team from Sichuan Agriculture University led by Xuewei Chen investigated mechanisms underlying the genera- tion of an infection structure called penetration peg, which is employed by many fungal pathogens such as the one causing blast disease on rice. They discovered that very-long-chain fatty acids are required for this process. They further demonstrated that a group of commercialized herbicides capable of inhibiting very-long-chain fatty acid biosynthesis in fungi can effectively inhibit pathogenesis of a broad spectrum of fungi, which brings new technology to control diseases and provides new ideas for new pesticides discovery.