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1-Nitropyrene (1-NP), a typical nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, is widely distributed in the environment and is well known for its mutagenic effects. Recently, we found that gestational 1-NP exposure induced fetal growth restriction. In this study, we further evaluated the effect of in utero 1-NP exposure on postnatal growth and neurobehavioral development in the offspring. Pregnant mice were administered with 1-NP (10 μg/kg) by gavage daily in late pregnancy (GD13-GD17). The body weight of each offspring was measured from PND1 to 12 weeks postpartum. Exploration and anxiety related activities were detected by open-field test at 6 weeks postpartum. Learning and memory were assessed by Morris Water Maze at 7 weeks postpartum. And depressive-like behaviors were estimated by sucrose preference test at 10 weeks postpartum. Significant body weight reduction was observed in 1-NP-exposed female offspring at PND1, PND14 and PND21 while the lower body weight was only found at PND1 for 1-NP-exposed male offspring. Exploration and anxiety activities at puberty, and depressive-like behavior in adulthood were not disturbed in offspring prenatally exposed to 1-NP. Interestingly, spatial learning and memory ability at puberty was impaired in females but not in males prenatally exposed to 1-NP. These findings suggest that gestational 1-NP exposure delays postnatal growth and impaired neurobehavioral development in a gender-dependent manner. • Gestational 1-NP exposure delayed growth of female offspring during lactation. • Gestational 1-NP exposure impaired spatial learning and memory in female offspring. • Anxiety-related behavior in offspring was not affected by gestational 1-NP exposure. • Depressive-like behavior in offspring was not affected by gestational 1-NP exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthracnose decay caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides greatly shortens the shelf life and commercial quality of mango fruit. Putrescine (1,4-Diaminobutane) is involved in modulating plant defense to various environmental stresses. In this research, in vivo and in vitro tests were used to explore the antifungal activity and the underlying mechanism of putrescine against C. gloeosporioides in mango fruit after harvested. In vivo tests suggested that putrescine markedly delayed the occurrence of disease and limited the spots expansion on inoculated mango fruit. Further analysis exhibited that putrescine treatment enhanced disease resistance, along with enhanced activities of chitinase (CHI), β-1,3-glucanase (GLU), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H), 4-coumarate coenzyme A ligase (4CL), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and the accumulation of lignin, flavonoid, phenolics, and anthocyanin in infected mango fruit. In addition, in vitro tests showed that putrescine exerted strongly antifungal activity against C. gloeosporioides. Putrescine induced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and severe lipid peroxidation damage in C. gloeosporioides mycelia, resulting in the leakage of soluble protein, soluble sugar, nucleic acids, K+ and Ca2+ of C. gloeosporioides mycelia. The mycelium treated with putrescine showed severe deformity and shrinkage, and even cracking. Taken together, putrescine could effectively reduce the incidence rate and severity of anthracnose disease possibly through direct fungicidal effect and indirect induced resistance mechanism, thus showing great potential to be applied to disease control. [Display omitted] • Putrescine enhanced anthracnose resistance in mango fruit. • Putrescine inhibited mycelial growth and spore germination of C. gloeosporioides. • Putrescine caused plasma membrane damage and leakage of intracellular constituents of C. gloeosporioides. • Putrescine enhanced defense-related enzyme activities and accumulation of antifungal compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Imidoyl chloride scaffolds used to against plant pathogenic fungi. • Novel thiazol-2-ylbenzamide and thiazole-2-ylbenzimidoyl chloride derivatives were designed and selectively synthesized as antifungal agents by optimizing the conditions. • Compounds 3B and 4B showed broad-spectrum antifungal activity than the lead compound thifluzamide in vitro. • acute oral toxicity test on A. mellifera L. showed only low toxicity for compounds 3B and 4B to A. mellifera L. populations. To promote the development and exploitation of novel antifungal agents, a series of thiazol-2-ylbenzamide derivatives (3A - 3V) and thiazole-2-ylbenzimidoyl chloride derivatives (4A - 4V) were designed and selective synthesis. The bioassay results showed that most of the target compounds exhibited excellent in vitro antifungal activities against five plant pathogenic fungi (Valsa mali , Sclerotinia scleotiorum , Botrytis cinerea , Rhizoctonia solani and Trichoderma viride). The antifungal effects of compounds 3B (EC 50 = 0.72 mg/L) and 4B (EC 50 = 0.65 mg/L) against S. scleotiorum were comparable to succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs) thifluzamide (EC 50 = 1.08 mg/L) and boscalid (EC 50 = 0.78 mg/L). Especially, compounds 3B (EC 50 = 0.87 mg/L) and 4B (EC 50 = 1.08 mg/L) showed higher activity against R. solani than boscalid (EC 50 = 2.25 mg/L). In vivo experiments in rice leaves revealed that compounds 3B (86.8 %) and 4B (85.3 %) exhibited excellent protective activities against R. solani comparable to thifluzamide (88.5 %). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results exhibited that compounds 3B and 4B dramatically disrupted the typical structure and morphology of R. solani mycelium. Molecular docking demonstrated that compounds 3B and 4B had significant interactions with succinate dehydrogenase (SDH). Meanwhile, SDH inhibition assay results further proved their potential as SDHIs. In addition, acute oral toxicity tests on A. mellifera L. showed only low toxicity for compounds 3B and 4B to A. mellifera L. populations. These results suggested that these two series of compounds had merit for further investigation as potential low-risk agricultural SDHI fungicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]