Sulfonamine-containing aurone derivatives act as inhibitors of intercellular movement of potato virus Y.

Intercellular movement plays an important role in plant virus infection and transmission, which provides an opportunity for antiviral agents that interfere with the intercellular motion. However, there are still few compounds that directly interfere with the movement of viruses between cells. Herein, a series of aurone derivatives containing sulfonamide active groups were designed and synthesized. Among them, compound D13 effectively inhibits virus infection by forming a stable hydrogen bond with Pro154 (P154) of potato virus Y (PVY) coat protein (CP). Further studies have shown that D13 can effectively interfere with the process of P154-mediated viral intercellular trafficking in plasmodesmata (PD). This study emphasizes the core position of virus intercellular movement in plant virus diseases and its inhibition strategy and confirms that the aurone derivative D13 is a candidate molecule for antiviral pesticides or intercellular movement inhibitors, providing a new direction for plant virus prevention and control.