Fifty-two kinds of N’-phenylhydrazides were successfully designed and synthesized. Their anti-fungal activity in vitro against five strains of C. alb. was evaluated. All prepared compounds owned varying degrees of activity and their MIC80, TAI, and TSI values were calculated. The in-hibitory activities of 27/52 compounds against fluconazole-resistant fungi C. alb. 4395 and C. alb. 5272 were much higher than those of fluconazole. The MIC80 values of 14/52 compounds against fluconazole-resistant fungus C. alb. 5122 were less than 4 μg/mL, so it was the most sensitive fungus (TSIB = 12.0). A11 showed the highest inhibitory activity against C. alb. SC5314, 4395, and 5272. The antifungal activities of B14 and D5 against four strains of fluconazole-resistant fungi were higher than those of fluconazole. The TAI values of A11 (2.71), B14 (2.13), and D5 (2.25) are the highest. Further exploring the antifungal mechanism revealed that the fungus treated with compound A11 produced free radicals and reactive oxygen species, and their mycelium mor-phology was damaged. In conclusion, the hydrazide scaffold showed potential in the develop-ment of antifungal lead compounds. Among them, A11, B14, and D5 demonstrated particularly promising antifungal activity and hold potential as novel antifungal agents.

SARS-CoV-2, the newly identified human coronavirus causing severe pneumonia epidemic, was probably originated from Chinese horseshoe bats. However, direct transmission of the virus from bats to humans is unlikely due to lack of direct contact, implying the existence of unknown intermediate hosts. Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the receptor of SARS-CoV-2, but only ACE2s of certain species can be utilized by SARS-CoV-2. Here, we evaluated and ranked the receptor-utilizing capability of ACE2s from various species by phylogenetic clustering and sequence alignment with the currently known ACE2s utilized by SARS-CoV-2, predicting potential intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2.