Anti-Virulence Strategy of Novel Dehydroabietic Acid Derivatives: Design, Synthesis, and Antibacterial Evaluation

Anti-virulence strategies are attractive and interesting strategies for controlling bacterial diseases because virulence factors are fundamental to the infection process of numerous serious phytopathogenics. To extend the novel anti-virulence agents, a series of dehydroabietic acid (DAA) derivatives decorated with amino alcohol unit were semi-synthesized based on structural modification of the renewable natural DAA and evaluated for their antibacterial activity against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac), and Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa). Compound 2b showed the most promising antibacterial activity against Xoo with an EC₅₀ of 2.7 μg mL^-1. Furthermore, compound 2b demonstrated remarkable control effectiveness against bacterial leaf blight (BLB) in rice, with values of 48.6% and 61.4% for curative and protective activities. In addition, antibacterial behavior suggested that compound 2b could suppress various virulence factors, including EPS, biofilm, swimming motility, and flagella. Therefore, the current study provided promising lead compounds for novel bactericides discovery by inhibiting bacterial virulence factors.