Metabolic Changes in Larvae of Predator Chrysopa sinica Fed on Azadirachtin-Treated Plutella xylostella Larvae

Abstract

Biological control is a key component of integrated pest management (IPM). To suppress pests in a certain threshold, chemical control is used in combination with biological and other control methods. An essential premise for using pesticides in IPM is to ascertain their compatibility with beneficial insects. Chrysopa sinica (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) is an important predator of various pests and used for pest management. This study was intended to analyze metabolic changes in C. sinica larvae after feeding on azadirachtin-treated Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera, Plutellidae) larvae through a non-targeted LC–MS (Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry） “based metabolomics analysis. Results showed that C. sinica larvae did not die after consuming P. xylostella larvae treated with azadirachtin. However, their pupation and eclosion were adversely affected, resulting in an impairment in the completion of their life cycle. Feeding C. sinica larvae with azadirachtin-treated P. xylostella larvae affected over 10,000 metabolites across more than 20 pathways, including the metabolism of amino acids, carbohydrates, lipid, cofactors, and vitamins in C. sinica larvae, of which changes in amnio acid metabolism were particularly pronounced. A working model was proposed to illustrate differential changes in 20 metabolites related to some amino acid metabolisms. Among them, 15 were markedly reduced and only five were elevated. Our results suggest that azadirachtin application may not be exclusively compatible with the use of the predator C. sinica for control of P. xylostella. It is recommended that the compatibility should be evaluated not only based on the survival of the predatory insects but also by the metabolic changes and the resultant detrimental effects on their development.

Azadirachtin Inhibits Nuclear Receptor HR3 in the Prothoracic Gland to Block Larval Ecdysis in the Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda

“…The high efficiency and relative safety have made azadirachtin a botanical pesticide for pest control in the past decades. Azadirachtin has a high efficiency in a lot of pests and has biological activity against Plutella xylostella, Ostrinia furnacalis, brown rice planthopper, Bemisia argentifolii, Agrilus planipennis, − and other pests. Azadirachtin can significantly inhibit the growth and development of insects, including reduced diet intake, delays in development of larvae and nymphs, permanent larvae, incomplete ecdysis, malformed pupae and adults, sterile eggs, and reduced fecundity. , The study found that azadirachtin did not compete with ecdysone or bind to the ecdysone receptor.…”

Hemolymph metabolism of black soldier fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), response to different supplemental fungi

“…During pathway enrichment analysis, the following parameters were applied: the model organism library selected was Drosophila melanogaster , and statistical comparisons were performed using the hypergeometric test . The pathways that exhibited significant effects were determined based on their respective P -values, following the approach described by Zhang et al (2022) . Some of the metabolites (pyridoxal, valine, quinolinic acid, arginine, hypoxanthine, and citric acid) belonging to different pathways were not enriched during pathway analysis.…”

Metabolomics Provides New Insights into Host Manipulation Strategies by Asobara japonica (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a Fruit Fly Parasitoid

“…FC was calculated as the ratio of the peak area of parasitized and non-parasitized groups. Additionally, the screening criteria for differential metabolites was the VIP values from the OPLS-DA model > 1 and the p -value from the Student’s t -test < 0.05, based on the previous reports [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. Here, the default 7-fold cross-validation was applied with 1/7 of the samples being excluded from the mathematical model in each round, to guard against overfitting.…”