title: Eco-friendly control of malaria and arbovirus vectors using the mosquitofish Gambusia affinis and ultra-low dosages of Mimusops elengi-synthesized silver nanoparticles: towards an integrative approach?
abstract: Mosquito-borne diseases represent a deadly threat for millions of people worldwide. However, the use of synthetic insecticides to control Culicidae may lead to high operational costs and adverse non-target effects. Plant-borne compounds have been proposed for rapid extracellular synthesis of mosquitocidal nanoparticles. Their impact against biological control agents of mosquito larval populations has been poorly studied. We synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNP) using the aqueous leaf extract of Mimusops elengi as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The formation of AgNP was studied using different biophysical methods, including UV-vis spectrophotometry, TEM, XRD, EDX and FTIR. Low doses of AgNP showed larvicidal and pupicidal toxicity against the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi and the arbovirus vector Aedes albopictus. AgNP LC50 against A. stephensi ranged from 12.53 (I instar larvae) to 23.55 ppm (pupae); LC50 against A. albopictus ranged from 11.72 ppm (I) to 21.46 ppm (pupae). In the field, the application of M. elengi extract and AgNP (10 × LC50) led to 100 % larval reduction after 72 h. In adulticidal experiments, AgNP showed LC50 of 13.7 ppm for A. stephensi and 14.7 ppm for A. albopictus. The predation efficiency of Gambusia affinis against A. stephensi and A. albopictus III instar larvae was 86.2 and 81.7 %, respectively. In AgNP-contaminated environments, predation was 93.7 and 88.6 %, respectively. This research demonstrates that M. elengi-synthesized AgNP may be employed at ultra-low doses to reduce larval populations of malaria and arbovirus vectors, without detrimental effects on predation rates of mosquito natural enemies, such as larvivorous fishes.
authors: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Jayapal
authors: J
authors: Subramaniam
authors: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Kadarkarai
authors: K
authors: Murugan
authors: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Chellasamy
authors: C
authors: Panneerselvam
authors: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Kalimuthu
authors: K
authors: Kovendan
authors: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Pari
authors: P
authors: Madhiyazhagan
authors: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Palanisamy Mahesh
authors: PM
authors: Kumar
authors: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Devakumar
authors: D
authors: Dinesh
authors: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Balamurugan
authors: B
authors: Chandramohan
authors: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: Udaiyan
authors: U
authors: Suresh
authors: Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy.
authors: Marcello
authors: M
authors: Nicoletti
authors: Department of Reproduction, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, 157-8535, Japan.
authors: Akon
authors: A
authors: Higuchi
authors: Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, 202-24, Taiwan.
authors: Jiang-Shiou
authors: JS
authors: Hwang
authors: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia.
authors: Suresh
authors: S
authors: Kumar
authors: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Abdullah A
authors: AA
authors: Alarfaj
authors: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Murugan A
authors: MA
authors: Munusamy
authors: Kauai Agricultural Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 7370 Kuamo'o Road, Kapaa, 97646, HI, USA.
authors: Russell H
authors: RH
authors: Messing
authors: Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124, Pisa, Italy. g.benelli@sssup.it.
authors: Giovanni
authors: G
authors: Benelli
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000187:drug effects*; D001102:Arbovirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D003532:Cyprinodontiformes / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007306:Insecticides / Q000494:pharmacology; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects; D008288:Malaria / Q000517:prevention & control; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D032130:Mimusops / Q000737:chemistry; D009032:Mosquito Control; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D011679:Pupa / Q000187:drug effects; D012834:Silver / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012834:Silver
keywords: Aedes aegypti; Anopheles stephensi; Biological control; Dengue; EDX; FTIR; Green-synthesis; Malaria; Nanobiotechnology; TEM-EDX; XRD