Pesticides can accumulate throughout the food chain to potentially endanger human health. Although molecular hydrogen (H₂) is widely used in industry and medicine, its application in agriculture is just beginning. This study showed that H₂ enhances the degradation of the fungicide chlorothalonil (CHT) in plants, but does not reduce its antifungal efficacy. Pharmacological evidence confirmed the contribution of H₂-stimulated brassinosteroids (BRs) in the above responses. The genetic increased endogenous H₂ with overexpression of hydrogenase 1 gene (CrHYD1) from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in Arabidopsis not only increased BRs levels, but also eventually intensified the degradation of CHT. Expression of genes encoding some enzymes responsible for detoxification in tomato and Arabidopsis were also stimulated. Contrasting responses were observed after the pharmacological removal of endogenous BR. We further proved that H₂ control of CHT degradation was relatively universal, with at least since its degradation in Chinese cabbage, cucumber, radish, alfalfa, rice, and rapeseed were differentially enhanced by H₂. Collectively, above results clearly indicated that both exogenously and endogenously applied with H₂ could stimulate degradation of CHT partially via BR-dependent detoxification. These results may open a new window for environmental-friendly hydrogen-based agriculture.

农药可以在整个食物链中积累，可能危害人类健康。虽然分子氢（H ₂）广泛用于工业和医药，但其在农业中的应用才刚刚开始。该研究表明，H ₂增强了杀菌剂百菌清 (CHT) 在植物中的降解，但不降低其抗真菌功效。药理学证据证实了 H ₂刺激的油菜素内酯 (BRs) 在上述反应中的作用。拟南芥莱茵衣藻氢化酶1基因( CrHYD1 )的过表达导致内源性H _{2基因增加}不仅增加了BRs水平，而且最终加剧了CHT的降解。还刺激了编码番茄和拟南芥中一些负责解毒的酶的基因的表达。在药理学去除内源性BR后观察到对比反应。我们进一步证明了H ₂对CHT降解的控制是相对普遍的，至少因为它在大白菜、黄瓜、萝卜、紫花苜蓿、水稻和油菜中的降解被H ₂不同程度地增强了。总的来说，上述结果清楚地表明，外源和内源都应用了 H ₂可以通过依赖BR的解毒部分刺激CHT的降解。这些结果可能为环境友好的氢基农业打开一个新的窗口。