Preparation of a Porphyrin Metal–Organic Framework with Desirable Photodynamic Antimicrobial Activity for Sustainable Plant Disease Management

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 69; no. 8; pp. 2382 - 2391
• Main Authors: Tang, Jingyue, Tang, Gang, Niu, Junfan, Yang, Jiale, Zhou, Zhiyuan, Gao, Yunhao, Chen, Xi, Tian, Yuyang, Li, Yan, Li, Jianqiang, Cao, Yongsong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 03.03.2021
• Subjects: Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry; Anti-Infective Agents - pharmacology; Ascomycota; Disease Management; Metal-Organic Frameworks; Photosensitizing Agents - pharmacology; Porphyrins - pharmacology; genotoxicity; photodynamic antimicrobial; phytopathogen; singlet oxygen; safety; metal−organic framework
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c06487

Considering the severity of plant pathogen resistance toward commonly used agricultural microbicides, as well as the potential threats of agrichemicals to the eco-environment, there is a pressing need for antimicrobial approaches that are capable of inactivating pathogens efficiently without the risk of inducing resistances and harm. In this work, a porphyrin metal–organic framework (MOF) nanocomposite was constructed by incorporating 5,10,15,20-tetrakis­(1-methyl-4-pyridinio)­porphyrin tetra­(p-toluenesulfonate) (TMPyP) as a photosensitizer (PS) in the cage of a variant MOF (HKUST-1) to efficiently produce singlet oxygen (1O2) to inactivate plant pathogens under light irradiation. The results showed that the prepared PS@MOF had a loading rate of PS about 12% (w/w) and excellent and broad-spectrum photodynamic antimicrobial activity in vitro against three plant pathogenic fungi and two pathogenic bacteria. Moreover, PS@MOF showed outstanding control efficacy against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on cucumber in the pot experiment. Allium cepa chromosome aberration assays and safety evaluation on cucumber and Chinese cabbage indicated that PS@MOF had no genotoxicity and was safe to plants. Thus, porphyrin MOF demonstrated a great potential as an alternative and efficient new microbicide for sustainable plant disease management.