Essential oil composition of Callistemon citrinus (Curtis) and its protective efficacy against Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

Tribolium castaneum is one of the major pests of stored grains which causes extensive damages. To control this insect pest many synthetic chemical pesticides are used. However, continuous usage of synthetic fumigants causes pest resurgence, toxic residues, genetic resistance in pests, environmental contamination and health hazards etc., To avert these problems, essential oils are used as bio-fumigants to control the stored pests. They could act as best alternatives to synthetic fumigant in closed environment. Hence, the present study aimed to evaluate the pesticidal activity of Callistemon citrinus oil against Tribolium castaneum. GC-MS analysis of C. citrinus essential oil (EO) showed 10 compounds; among them, the major constituent was eucalyptol (1, 8-cineole) at 40.44%. The lethal concentration (LC50) values were 37.05 µL/L (adults) and 144.31 µL/L (larvae) at 24 and 48 hrs respectively. Exposure to C. citrinus EO significantly reduced the beetle fecundity, ovicidal activity, egg hatchability, larvae survival and emergence of adult. The effect of EO on enzymatic activity of T. castaneum adults was examined using Acetylcholinesterase, α-Carboxylesterase, ß-Carboxylesterase, Glutathione-S-Transferase, Acid and Alkaline phosphatase assays. The results indicated that the activity of detoxification enzymes drastically varied when compared with control. This EO had toxicant effects on all stages of the life of T. castaneum.

Karyomorphological effects of two new oil formulations on Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

The cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera is a serious pest of many economically important crops. Since this pest has become resistant to the conventional synthetic insecticides, newer compounds and formulations are being developed against this insect pest. Many natural compounds isolated from the plants were tested against this pest. Among them Hyptis suaveolens and Melochia corchorifolia showed insecticidal properties against H. arnigera. Based on bioefficacy studies, caryophyllene and ß-sitosterol were isolated from H. suaveolens and M. corchorifolia respectively. The isolated natural compounds were further developed as formulations in various combinations with neem (Azadirachta indica) and karanj (Pongamia pinnata) oils. The present study indicated that the formulations influenced the karyomorphology of H. armigera.

Efficacy of red light for enhanced cell disruption and fluorescence intensity of phycocyanin.

In this study, red LED and urea used as light and nitrogen sources, respectively, for the cultivation of Spirulina to enhance the fluorescence property and purity of phycocyanin. Besides, there is a high concentration of phycocyanin leached out from red light (RL) grown cells than white light (WL) without cell disruption. This type of cultivation reduces the complexity of extraction methods and cost of the downstream process. The fluorescence intensity of C-PC enhanced while using red LEDs and purity ratio improved by single-step cation exchange chromatography. Phycocyanin from red-light-exposed culture exhibited pronounced antibacterial activity against bacteria. The hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity of C-PC (93.7%) is higher than the WL cultures (88.8%). Phycocyanin from RL culture exhibited a strong antiproliferative activity (64.1%) against HeLa cancer cell line. The present study aims to analyze the influence of red light and urea on enhancing the phycocyanin production.

Efficacy of essential oil from Clausena anisata and its impact on biochemical changes of Sitophilus oryzae.

Essential oil (EO), from Clausena anisata, was evaluated for their efficacy (fumigant and repellent activities) against Sitophilus oryzae. Result revealed that C. anisata showed 82% fumigant toxicity (insect mortality) at 160 µL/L concentration after 24h observation period. C. anisata exhibited LC50 value of 17.84 µL/L concentration for fumigant toxicity. The insect movement behaviour (repellent) was observed in two different concentrations of 10 and 50 µL for a period of 3 h. Maximum repellent activity (- 0.25) was observed at 50 µL/L concentration against S. oryzae after 3-h observation. At 3, 6 and 12 µL/L concentrations of C. anisata oil significantly reduced the protein content and total esterase activity of S. oryzae.

Toxic effect of Atalantia monophylla essential oil on Callosobruchus maculatus and Sitophilus oryzae.

The hydrodistillated essential oil of Atalantia monophylla was subjected to GC-MS. Forty compounds were presented in the essential oil. Eugenol (19.76 %), sabinene (19.57 %), 1,2-dimethoxy-4-(2-methoxyethenyl) benzene (9.84 %), beta-asarone (7.02 %) and methyl eugenol (5.52 %) were found the predominant compounds. The oil was tested for fumigant toxicity and repellent activity against Callosobruchus maculatus and Sitophilus oryzae. The development stage of C. maculatus fecundity, adult emergence and also ovicidal activities were studied by the treatment of A. monophylla oil. The oil exhibited considerable fumigation toxicity (70.22 %), repellent activity (85.24 %) and ovicidal activity (100 %) against C. maculatus. The oil significantly reduced the protein, esterase, acetylcholinesterase and glutathione S-transferase on C. maculatus and S. oryzae. It can be considered that A. monophylla has a potential insecticide against stored product pests.

Biological properties of Endophytic Fungi

The endophytic fungus is have rich source of secondary metabolites which act as biological active agent in the higher plants. The fungal derivatives play vital part in human life and their compounds are the source of drug for cancer, microbial and viral diseases. The natural compounds from the endophytes acts as growth inhibitor of plant pathogenic organism. Endophytes are rich sources of natural products which are used in agriculture (plant growth and insecticidal), pharmaceutical industries and also used for phytoremediation.

Bioefficacy of flindersine against Helicoverpa armigera Hübner, Spodoptera litura Fabricius, Anopheles stephensis Liston. and Culex quinquefasciatus Say.

Flindersine, an alkaloid isolated from Toddalia asiatica, was evaluated for their antifeedant, larvicidal and growth inhibitory activities against Helicoverpa armigera, Spodoptera litura and larvicidal activity against vector mosquitoes Anopheles stephensi and Culex quinquefasciatus. For this, leaf disc no choice method was used for agricultural pests; larvicidal activity was tested on second and fourth instar larvae for mosquitoes at different concentrations. Flindersine showed antifeedant, larvicidal and growth inhibitory activities against H. armigera and S. litura and larvicidal activity against vector mosquitoes An. stephensi and Cx. quinquefasciatus. It showed high regression (R2) values of 0.91 and 0.87 against H. armigera and S. litura, respectively for antifeedant activity. Flindersine exhibited more than 65% larvicidal activity against both the pests with LC50 values of 443.04 and 568.88 ppm and R2 values of 0.87 and 0.90 against H. armigera and S. litura, respectively. The larval and pupal duration of tested insects increased to more than five days at 1000 ppm when compared with the control. The adult emergence was reduced when the concentration of flindersine was increased. At 1000 ppm, no adult emergence was observed in both the pests. Flindersine exhibited 100% larvicidal activity against both the tested mosquitoes at 20 ppm concentration, which showed LC50 values of 2.90, 4.19, 1.68 and 2.71 ppm for 2nd and 4th instar larvae of Cx. quinquefasciatus and An. Stephensi, respectively. High regression values were observed for antifeedant, larvicidal and growth inhibitory activities. Flindersine could be used to develop an ecofriendly pesticide formulation to control the agricultural pests and vector mosquitoes.

Feeding Deterrent and Genotoxicity Analysis of a novel Phytopesticide by using Comet Assay against Helicoverpa armigera (HÜbner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Newly developed Phytopesticidal formulations from pongam and neem oils were evaluated for their feeding deterrent activity using leaf disc choice and no-choice methods, and genotoxic study using comet assay against Helicoverpa armigera at different concentrations of 5, 10, 15, and 20 ppm. Among various phytopesticidal formulations, neem and pongam oils at 1:1 ratio, called PONNEEM showed significant feeding deterrent activity against H. armigera at 20 ppm concentration and wasgenotoxic to H. armigera (P>0.001). The comet parameters, namely tail moment (arbitrary units), tail length (µm) and tail DNA (%) were observed at all the concentrations of PONNEEM. Statistically significant changes in all the comet parameters of H. armigera were observed at 20 ppm (P<0.001). Feeding deterrent and genotoxicity effect of PONNEEM could be applied as phytopesticide for controlling the lepidopteran insect pests.

Bioefficacy of pectolinaringenin from Clerodendrum phlomidis Linn. F. against Anopheles stephensi and bhendi fruit borer, Earias vittella fab.

Larvicidal activity of pectolinaringenin from Clerodendrum phlomidis was evaluated against Anopheles stephensi and antifeedant, larvicidal and growth inhibitory activities were evaluated against Earias vittella. Pectolinaringenin exhibited larvicidal activity of 100 and 98.24% against 2nd and 4th instar larvae of Anopheles stephensi at 5ppm concentration. It exhibited LC50 values of 0.35 and 0.55 ppm for 2nd and 4th instar larvae, respectively. At 100 ppm concentration, pectolinaringenin exhibited maximum antifeedant activity of 74.00% and larvicidal activity of 89.98%. The LC50 values were 36.2 and 10.23 ppm for antifeedant and larvicidal, respectively. The compound completely prevented the adult emergence at 50 and 100 ppm concentrations. This is the first report of pectolinaringenin from C. phlomidis evaluated against An. stephensi and E. vittella. The results suggested that the pectolinaringenin from C. philomidis could be used to develop a new botanical formulation to manage vector mosquitoes and agricultural pests.

Evaluation of fractions and 5,7-dihydroxy-4',6-dimethoxy-flavone from Clerodendrum phlomidis Linn. F. against Helicoverpa armigera Hub.

Twelve fractions from chloroform extract of Clerodendrum phlomidis and 5,7-dihydroxy- 4',6-dimethoxy-flavone (pectolinaringenin) were evaluated against Helicoverpa armigera. Maximum antifeedant (89.41%), larvicidal (83.77%) and ovicidal (69.25%) activities were observed in fraction 5. The least LC50 value for antifeedant (178.09 ppm) and larvicidal (198.23 ppm) were observed in fraction 5. No adult emergence was recorded in fractions 4-6 at 1000 ppm. The oviposition deterrent activity was 100% in fraction 5 at all the concentrations. Pectolinaringenin recorded maximum antifeedant (74.68%) and larvicidal (81.11%) activities at 100 ppm; it completely prevented the adult emergence of H. armigera at 100 ppm. Maximum ovicidal activity at 100 ppm concentration was 67.95%. The oviposition deterrent activity was 100% in 100 and 50 ppm concentrations. C. phlomidis could be effectively used to develop a new formulation to control the economically important pests.