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Repellence and insecticidal activity of Rhododendron anthopogonoides EO and head transcriptome analysis

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Abstract

Tribolium castaneum is a significant pest in grain storage, causing considerable economic impact globally. Plant-derived insecticides are being employed as alternatives to chemical insecticides and have shown strong insecticidal activity against T. castaneum. However, the mechanism underlying the insecticidal effects of plant-derived insecticides on T. castaneum remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the repellent, fumigation, and contact activities of R. anthopogonoides essential oil (EO) and its four main chemical components against T. castaneum. The results demonstrated that both the EO and its main chemical component, benzylacetone, exhibited potent insecticidal activity against T. castaneum. Benzylacetone may be the primary active component of R. anthopogonoides EO against T. castaneum. Subsequently, transcriptome sequencing of T. castaneum treated with Benzylacetone, along with negative controls, revealed 1616 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with 758 up-regulated and 858 down-regulated genes. GO analysis indicated that the DEGs were mainly enriched in “cellular process,” “metabolic process,” “cell,” “cell part,” “catalytic activity,” “binding,” and other categories. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that the 417 DEGs were distributed across 217 different pathways, with several pathways related to xenobiotic or drug metabolism significantly enriched. This suggests that Benzylacetone likely disrupts metabolic and detoxication processes. Additionally, qRT-PCR validation of the TcOBP-4E and TcCYP450-6BK11 genes exhibited consistent results with the transcriptome data. Homology modeling and molecular docking results indicated the presence of a binding cavity formed by numerous hydrophobic amino acid residues in TcOBPs, with possible hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interaction forces between the protein and ligand. These findings suggest that OBP and CYP450 play crucial roles in the resistance to foreign substances and provide a theoretical basis for understanding the insecticidal mechanisms of plant-derived insecticides at the molecular level.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Local Service Project of Liaoning Provincial Department of Education in 2022.

Funding

Liaoning Provincial Education Department Local Service Project in 2022 "Target Screening and Emulsion Development of Storage Pest Repellent".

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Author notes

  1. YuLi Sang and YanJun Hao are co-corresponding authors.

  2. XiangJun Tu and Pei Wang are co-lead authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Pharmacy, Liaoning University, No.66 Middle Chongshan Road, Shenyang, 110036, Liaoning, China

    YuLi Sang, Pei Wang, ZeXu Pan, Lu Dai & YueQiang Xin

  2. Huarun Sanjiu (Zaozhuang) Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, No. 99, Guangrun Road, High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, Zaozhuang, China

    Xiangjun Tu

  3. Liaoning Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No.79 East Chongshan Road, Shenyang, 110032, Liaoning, China

    YanJun Hao

  4. Dandong City Drug Inspection and Testing Center, No. 34 Taoyuan Street, Zhenxing District, Dandong, 118000, Liaoning, China

    PeiQi Chen

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  1. YuLi Sang
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Contributions

XiangJun Tu conceived and designed the experiment. Pei Wang and Lu Dai performed the experiments, analyzed the data and wrote the article. YueQiang Xin, Xiang Ji and Lei Shi revised the article. Yanjun Hao and Yuli Sang contributed to the samples, materials and analyzed the data.

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Correspondence to YanJun Hao or PeiQi Chen.

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Communicated by Merid Getahun.

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Sang, Y., Wang, P., Pan, Z. et al. Repellence and insecticidal activity of Rhododendron anthopogonoides EO and head transcriptome analysis. Arthropod-Plant Interactions (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-024-10043-y

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