Synthesis and antifungal activity of two novel spermidine analogues

Two spermidine analogues were synthesised and examined for antifungal activity. Both compounds used as 1 mM post-inoculation sprays reduced infection of barley seedlings by the powdery mildew fungus, Erysiphe graminis f.sp. hordei, infection of broad bean seedlings by the rust fungus, Uromyces viciae-fabae, and infection of apple seedlings by the powdery mildew fungus, Podosphaera leucotricha. Since these fungal pathogens cannot be cultured axenically, the effects of the two spermidine analogues on mycelial growth in vitro, as well as preliminary investigations on polyamine biosynthesis, were undertaken using the oat stripe pathogen, Pyrenophora avenae. Although neither compound affected radial growth of the fungus on plates, both analogues reduced fungal biomass in liquid culture substantially. The two spermidine analogues, used at a concentration of 1 mM, had no significant effect on the conversion of labelled ornithine into polyamines in P. avenae.