A Novel Insecticidal Molecule Extracted from Alpinia galanga with Potential to Control the Pest Insect Spodoptera frugiperda

Abstract

Spodoptera frugiperda, a highly polyphagous insect pest from America, has recently invaded and widely spread throughout Africa and Asia. Effective and environmentally safe tools are needed for successful pest management of this invasive species. Natural molecules extracted from plants offer this possibility. Our study aimed to determine the insecticidal efficacy of a new molecule extracted from Alpinia galanga rhizome, the 1′S-1′-acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA). The toxicity of ACA was assessed by topical application on early third-instar larvae of S. frugiperda. Results showed that ACA caused significant larval growth inhibition and larval developmental abnormalities. In order to further explore the effects of this molecule, experiments have been performed at the cellular level using Sf9 model cells. ACA exhibited higher toxicity on Sf9 cells as compared to azadirachtin and was 38-fold less toxic on HepG2 cells. Inhibition of cell proliferation was observed at sublethal concentrations of ACA and was associated with cellular morphological changes and nuclear condensation. In addition, ACA induced caspase-3 activity. RT-qPCR experiments reveal that ACA induces the expression of several caspase genes. This first study on the effects of ACA on S. frugiperda larvae and cells provides evidence that ACA may have potential as a botanical insecticide for the control of S. frugiperda.

Potential insecticidal extracts from Artocarpus lacucha against Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae

“…Several studies have also reported the insecticidal properties of other natural compounds against different insect species. For example, [1′S]-1′-acetoxychavicol acetate isolated from Alpinia galanga exhibited growth inhibition of Spodoptera frugiperda , while having low toxicity to human HepG2 cells compared to insect cells (Ruttanaphan et al 2020). Quercetin isolated from Euphorbia hirta was found to possess various insecticidal properties against S. litura , but had no significant effect on a nontarget earthworm Eisenia fetida Savigny (Selin-Rani et al 2016).…”

Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cells as a model system to investigate the role of detoxification gene expression in response to xenobiotics

“…Sf9 cells were derived from the ovary of the S. frugiperda pupa and have been used as a system for the heterologous expression of proteins for several decades ( Altmann et al., 1999 ; van Oers et al., 2015 ). However, they also have been employed to evaluate the potential of certain molecules to act as insecticides ( Pereira et al., 2021 ; Ruttanaphan et al., 2020 ). Indeed, Sf9 cells have been shown to be a useful model responsive to xenobiotics as well as to investigate potential resistance mechanisms ( Cui et al., 2020 ; Giraudo et al., 2011 , 2015 ; Saleh et al., 2013 ).…”

Methyl Benzoate as a Promising, Environmentally Safe Insecticide: Current Status and Future Perspectives

“…Nevertheless, widespread use of these pesticides can lead to pesticide resistance, environmental degradation, contamination of underground water and soil, harming ecosystems and nontarget species, including humans [4][5][6][7][8]. Therefore, curbing synthetic pesticide use is an urgent matter [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”