Functional response of an egg parasitoid, Trichogramma chilonis Ishii to sublethal imidacloprid exposure.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of a biological control agent depends on how well it can control pests and how compatible it is with pesticides. Therefore, we reported the multigenerational effect of a commonly used insecticide, imidacloprid, on the functional response of a widely acclaimed egg parasitoid, Trichogramma chilonis Ishii, to different densities of the host Corcyra cephalonica Stainton eggs. The study investigated the outcomes of the median lethal concentration (LC50 ) and sublethal concentrations (LC5 , LC30 ), along with control treatments for five continuous generations (F1 to F5 ). RESULTS: The results showed that the F5 generation of LC30 , both of the F1 and F5 generations of LC50 , and the control all had a Type II functional response. A Type I functional response was exhibited for the F1 generation of LC30 and both generations of LC5 . The attack rate on host eggs treated with LC5 and LC30 did not change (decrease) with the shift in the type of functional response as compared to the control. A significant increase in the searching efficiency (a) was observed in the later generation (F5 ) under the exposure of LC5 and LC30 imidacloprid concentrations. A lower handling time (Th ) in both generations of the LC5 followed by LC30 treated individuals was observed when compared with the control and LC50 treatments. The per capita parasitization efficiency (1/Th ) and the rate of parasitization per handling time (a/Th ) were also considerably higher in both the generations of LC5 and LC30 than in the control and LC50 , thereby implying positive effects of imidacloprid on the parasitization potential of T. chilonis. CONCLUSION: Altogether, these multigenerational outcomes on the functional response of T. chilonis could be leveraged to control the intractable lepidopteran pests under the mild exposure of imidacloprid in integrated pest management (IPM) programs as well as in the mass rearing of the parasitoid, T. chilonis. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Reference genes selection for expression studies in Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera) under specific experimental conditions.

BACKGROUND: Maconellicoccus hirsutus is a destructive pest which causes severe losses of agricultural and horticultural crops. For the management of M. hirsutus, many insecticides have been used and it has been exposed to insufficient dosage or uneven spray coverage which resulted in the development of insecticide resistance. Xenobiotic metabolism can be better understood with the help of gene expression studies by unveiling the underlying molecular mechanisms. The qRT-PCR is the simplest method to analyse gene expression, however, it highly relies on suitable reference genes concerning the different experimental conditions. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated the stability of five reference genes in two sets of experimental conditions viz. developmental stages (nymphs and adults) and agrochemical stress (GA3 and Buprofezin sprayed) against M. hirsutus, using different softwares-NormFinder, geNorm, BestKeeper, and RefFinder. The study revealed that ATP51a and GAPDH can be used as reference genes for gene expression studies when exposed to Gibberellic acid. Additionally, the study revealed that the ideal pair of reference genes for data validation in M. hirsutus treated with Buprofezin was GAPDH and ß-tubulin. The ideal reference gene combination for various developmental stages was found to be 28S and Actin. CONCLUSION: According to the study, GAPDH can be utilized as a reliable reference gene in the agrochemical (GA3 and Buprofezin) exposure set. The genes can be utilized as a suitable reference for qRT-PCR gene expression studies of xenobiotic metabolism to understand the underlying molecular mechanism, which will help further to design suitable management strategies.