Synthesis and Germination Activity of 5-(thio)phenol-3-methylfuran-2(5H)-one Analogues as Strigolactone Mimics

Background Phytohormones regulate plant growth, development, and stress responses. Strigolactones, a class of phytohormones, have attracted significant scientific interest due to their multifunctional roles in plant biology and ecological interactions. Results In this study,35 strigolactone mimics were efficiently synthesized via substitution reaction of pre-synthesized 5-chloro-3-methylfuran-2(5 H )-one with phenolics and benzenethiols. Most of the chemicals showed seed germination promoting activities on corn, sorghum, soybean, and sunflower seed. At a concentration of 100 mg/L, 3s and 4h showed 56% and 63% promoting rate of corn bud growth, while 50% and 62% promoting rate of sorghum root growth. The promoting rates of 3s and 4h on corn, sorghum, soybean and sunflower root growth ranged to 35–48% and 46–71%. The promotion effect of the target compound exhibited dose effect, increasing within the range of 0.01-10 mg/L and decreasing within the range of 10–100 mg/L. The optimal promotion rates for maize root and shoot growth at 3s and 4h were achieved at a concentration of 10 mg/L. 3s and 4h regulated the content of the abscisic acid, auxin, cytokinin and gibberellin content to promote plant germination. The binding energy of GR24 docking with strigolactone receptor proteins derived from Arabidopsis (AtD14) was − 7.30 kcal/mol, while 3s and 4h were − 7.96 and − 8.05 kcal/mol. Conclusions The structure-activity relationships of 35 novel strigolactone mimics and docking simulations provided structural optimization strategies for designing new strigolactone mimics as plant growth regulators.