title: Curzerene, trans-β-elemenone, and γ-elemene as effective larvicides against Anopheles subpictus, Aedes albopictus, and Culex tritaeniorhynchus: toxicity on non-target aquatic predators.
abstract: A wide number of studies dealing with mosquito control focus on toxicity screenings of whole plant essential oils, while limited efforts shed light on main molecules responsible of toxicity, as well as their mechanisms of action on non-target organisms. In this study, GC-MS shed light on main essential oil components extracted from leaves of the Suriname cherry Eugenia uniflora, i.e., curzerene (35.7%), trans-β-elemenone (11.5%), and γ-elemene (13.6%), testing them on Anopheles subpictus, Aedes albopictus, and Culex tritaeniorhynchus larvae. Non-target toxicity experiments were carried out on four species of aquatic larvivorous organisms, including fishes, backswimmers, and waterbugs. The essential oil from E. uniflora leaves tested on An. subpictus, Ae. Albopictus, and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus showed LC50of 31.08, 33.50, and 36.35 μg/ml, respectively. Curzerene, trans-β-elemenone, and γ-elemene were extremely toxic to An. subpictus (LC50= 4.14, 6.13, and 10.53 μg/ml), Ae. albopictus (LC50= 4.57, 6.74, and 11.29 μg/ml), and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (LC50= 5.01, 7.32, and 12.18 μg/ml). The essential oil from E. uniflora leaves, curzerene, trans-β-elemenone, and γ-elemene showed low toxicity to larvivorous fishes, backswimmers, and waterbugs, with LC50ranging from 303.77 to 6765.56 μg/ml. Predator safety factor (PSF) ranged from 55.72 to 273.45. Overall, we believe that curzerene isolated from the essential oil from E. uniflora leaves can represent an ideal molecule to formulate novel mosquito larvicides, due to its extremely low LC50on all tested mosquito vectors (4.14-5.01 μg/ml), which far encompasses most of the botanical pesticides tested till now. Notably, the above-mentioned LC50did not damage the four aquatic predators tested in this study.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Vector Control, Phytochemistry and Nanotechnology, Department of Zoology, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, 608 002, India. drgovind1979@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marimuthu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Govindarajan
authors.affiliation: Unit of Vector Control, Phytochemistry and Nanotechnology, Department of Zoology, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, 608 002, India.
authors.forename: Mohan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rajeswary
authors.affiliation: Unit of Vector Control, Phytochemistry and Nanotechnology, Department of Zoology, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, 608 002, India.
authors.forename: Sengamalai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Senthilmurugan
authors.affiliation: Unit of Vector Control, Phytochemistry and Nanotechnology, Department of Zoology, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, 608 002, India.
authors.forename: Periasamy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vijayan
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Naiyf S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Alharbi
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Shine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kadaikunnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Jamal M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Khaled
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124, Pisa, Italy. benelli.giovanni@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benelli
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000737:chemistry*; D003465:Culex / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D007306:Insecticides / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007814:Larva; D009032:Mosquito Control; D000072138:Mosquito Vectors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry*; D018515:Plant Leaves; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C000609675:curzerene; C038905:elemene
keywords: Acute toxicity; Biosafety; Essential oil; Eugenia uniflora; Mosquitofish