Photosynthetic Electron Transport Inhibition by 3-Acyl-2,4,6-trihydroxybenzamide Derivatives

A series of 3-acyl-2,4,6-trihydroxybenzamides was synthesized, and the compounds’ PET inhibitory activities were examined in isolated chloroplasts. In general, the PET inhibitory activity was found to depend on the overall lipophilicity of the molecule. Low activities of the mono and dihydroxy derivatives indicated that the three hydroxyl groups on the nucleus were essential for high activity. The PET inhibition study, on chloroplasts isolated from an atrazine resistant biotype of Brassica napus and using thermoluminescence analysis, suggested that the trihydroxybenzamide derivatives would be classified as a urea type rather than a phenol type of PET inhibitor. However the trihydroxybenzamide derivatives, like the phenol type of PET inhibitor, showed a lag time before inhibition started, which was followed by constant activity. These results indicate that the binding domain for the trihy-droxybenzamide derivatives overlapped with those of both the urea type and phenol type of PET inhibitors.