Identification of substituted variants of plastoquinone-9 as potent and specific photosynthetic inhibitors in cyanobacteria and plants

The unprenylated benzoquinones 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (duroquinone), 2-chloro-1,4-benzoquinone (CBQ), 2,6-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (DMBQ), 2,6-dichloro-1,4-benzoquinone (DCBQ), and 2,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone (DMOBQ) were tested as putative antimetabolites of plastoquinone-9, a vital electron and proton carrier of oxygenic phototrophs. Duroquinone and CBQ were the most effective at inhibiting the growth of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 either in photomixotrophic or photoautotrophic conditions. Duroquinone, a close structural analog of the photosynthetic inhibitor methyl-plastoquinone-9, was found to possess genuine bactericidal activity towards Synechocystis at a concentration as low as 10 μM, while at the same concentration CBQ acted only as a mild bacteriostat. In contrast, only duroquinone displayed marked cytotoxicity in axenically-grown Arabidopsis, resulting in damages to photosystem II and hindered net CO2 assimilation. Metabolite profiling targeted to photosynthetic cofactors and pigments indicated that in Arabidopsis duroquinone does not directly inhibit plastoquinone-9 biosynthesis. Taken together, these data indicate that duroquinone offers prospects as an algicide and herbicide. [Display omitted] •Duroquinone displays bactericide activity towards Synechocystis.•Duroquinone displays herbicide activity towards Arabidopsis.•Duroquinone could be a potent antimetabolite of the photosynthetic cofactor plastoquinone-9.