Assessment of 2-allyl-4,5-dimethoxyphenol safety and attractiveness to mature males of Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel).

Males of the Oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) are highly attracted to, and compulsively feed, on methyl eugenol (ME). ME is converted into 2-allyl-4,5-dimethoxyphenol (DMP) and (E)-coniferyl alcohol (E-CF), which are temporarily sequestered in the fly's rectal gland prior to being released at dusk. Previous research initially confirmed that DMP is a relatively strong lure to B. dorsalis males. However, the characteristics of males' response to DMP and toxicology of DMP remains largely unclear. In our study, we demonstrated that DMP was more attractive to sexually mature males than E-CF tested in laboratory bioassays. Interestingly, the responsiveness of mature males to DMP was not uniform throughout the day, eliciting the highest response during the day and dropping to a low level at night. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between the olfactory responses of virgin and mated mature males to DMP. No obvious signs of toxic symptom and deaths were observed in mice during a 14-day acute oral toxicity testing. Further, toxicologically significant changes were not observed in body weight, water intake, food consumption, and absolute and relative organ weights between control and treated groups, implying DMP could be regarded as nontoxic. Lastly, the cytotoxicity data of DMP on cells showed that it exhibited no significant cytotoxicity to normal human and mouse cells. Taken together, results from both the acute and cellular toxicity experiments demonstrated the nontoxic nature of DMP. In conclusion, DMP shows promise as an effective and eco-friendly lure for B. dorsalis males, and may contribute to controlling B. dorsalis in the flied.

[Effects of HDAC Inhibitor Scriptaid on IM9 Cell Line and Its Mechanism].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of HDAC inhibitor Scriptaid on multiple myeloma IM9 cells and preliminarily clarify the mechanism of Scriptaid-induced cell apoptosis. METHODS: The cell viability, cell cycle and cell apoptosis were measured by CCK8 assay and flow cytometry respectively, the relative target gene expression levels were detected by RT-PCR, the effect of Scriptaid on p21 promoter activity was detected by using luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: Scriptaid inhibited IM9 cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. Scriptaid induced IM9 cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase in a dose-dependent manner. Scriptaid triggered IM9 cell apoptosis was obviously, the mRNA levels of apoptosis-related proteins Caspase 9, Caspase 3 and PARP1 were also activated. The apoptosis-associated factors BAD, PTEN and p21 increased following treatment with different dose of Scriptaid, meanwhile, p21 promoter activity was also activated significantly. CONCLUSION: HDAC inhibitor Scriptaid can promote IM9 cell apoptosis by transcriptional activation of p21 promoter in concentration-dependent manner.