title: Antioxidant enzyme level response to prooxidant allelochemicals in larvae of the southern armyworm moth, Spodoptera eridania.
abstract: Larvae of the southern armyworm, Spodoptera eridania, are highly polyphagous feeders which frequently encounter and feed upon plants containing high levels of prooxidant allelochemicals. While ingestion of moderate quantities of prooxidants can be tolerated by these larvae, ingestion of larger quantities can result in toxicity. Studies were conducted to assess the role of the antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione reductase (GR) in the protection of S. eridania against redox active prooxidant plant allelochemicals. Dietary exposure of mid-fifth-instar larvae to either quercetin (a flavonoid) or xanthotoxin (a photoactive furanocoumarin), which generate superoxide radical, and singlet oxygen, respectively, resulted in an increase in SOD levels. CAT levels increased in all groups of S. eridania including control insects. This may have been due to the sudden exposure to food following an extended fast of 18 h (to insure that larvae would not reject the diet because of the prooxidants' bitter taste) with an eventual lowering of CAT values with time. GR activities did not significantly change except for a slight inhibition at the highest prooxidant concentrations used at 12-h post-ingestion. The data from these studies suggest that SOD responds to prooxidant challenges in these insects and together with CAT and GR contributes to the insect's defense against potentially toxic prooxidant compounds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, SFB, University of Nevada, Reno 89557-0038.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Pritsos
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Pardini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism*; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005609:Free Radicals; D005980:Glutathione Reductase / Q000378:metabolism*; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000187:drug effects*; D008730:Methoxsalen / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009036:Moths / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D011794:Quercetin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D026082:Singlet Oxygen; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism*; D013481:Superoxides / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005419:Flavonoids; D005609:Free Radicals; D013481:Superoxides; D026082:Singlet Oxygen; D011794:Quercetin; D002374:Catalase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D005980:Glutathione Reductase; D010100:Oxygen; D008730:Methoxsalen