Bioefficacy evaluation of ferrocenyl chalcones against Meloidogyne incognita and Sclerotium rolfsii infestation in tomato

Abstract

The present study reports, bioefficacy evaluation of effective compounds against Meloidogyne incognita and Sclerotium rolfsii in pot cultured tomato. The identified five most effective compounds, i.e. (2E)-1-(4-Methylphenyl)-3-ferrocenyl-prop-2-en-1-one (6g), (2E)-1-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-3-ferrocenyl-prop-2-en-1-one (6h), (2E)-1-(3-Bromophenyl)-3-ferrocenyl-prop-2-en-1-one (6j), (2E)-1-(2,4-Dichlorophenyl)-3-ferrocenyl-prop-2-en-1-one (6k) and (2E)-1-(3,5-Dichloro-2-hydroxyphenyl)-3-ferrocenyl-prop-2-en-1-one (6p) along with Carbofuran 3G as positive control were tested at 20, 40 and 80 ppm by soil drenching and root dipping methods. The study revealed that all plant growth parameters were positively influenced by these compounds. The presence of an electron releasing group positively influenced the efficacy, and the activity was highest in compounds 6g and 6h at 80 ppm. Based on in vitro results against S. rolfsii, (2E)-1-Ferrocenyl-3-(4-bromophenyl)-prop-2-en-1-one (3b), (2E)-1-Ferrocenyl-3-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-prop-2-en-1-one (3o) and (2E)-1-(5-Chloro-2-hydroxyphenyl)-3-ferrocenyl-prop-2-en-1-one (6o) along with Tebuconazole 25.9% EC and Hexaconazole 5% SC as positive control were evaluated. The shoot length was found to be highest (24.50 cm) in plants treated with 3b followed by 3o and 6o at 1000 ppm. The percent disease incidence was significantly decreased as compared to control. The percent disease incidence was found to be minimum in plants treated with 3b at 1000 ppm. However, root dipping was not as effective as soil drenching. Therefore, ferrocenyl chalcone derivatives proved to be of great fungicidal and nematicidal potential opening new opportunities for expanding their effectiveness as new pest control agents.

Keywords:

• Ferrocenyl chalcones
• root-knot nematode
• antifungal activity
• nematicidal activity
• soil drenching
• root dipping

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Director, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi for providing facilities to carry out the research work. DKY thanks DST-SERB, PI Industries Ltd., CII, New Delhi and Prime Minister’s Fellowship for financial support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

All data generated for this study are included in the manuscript.

Scheme 2. General method for the synthesis of ferrocenyl chalcone.

Scheme 1. General method for the synthesis of ferrocenyl chalcone.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financial supported by Prime Minister's Fellowship for Doctoral Research (DST/SSK/SERB-CII-Fell/2014) by SERB, PI Industries Ltd. and CII, New Delhi.