Assessment of Insecticidal Activity of Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids from Chilean Rhamnaceae Plants against Fruit-Fly Drosophila melanogaster and the Lepidopteran Crop Pest Cydia pomonella.

Soledad Quiroz-Carreño,Julio Alarcón-Enos,Cesar Espinoza-Pinochet,Carlos L Céspedes-Acuña,Luis Devotto-Moreno,Evelyn Muñoz-Núñez,Edgar Pastene-Navarrete

doi:10.3390/molecules25215094

Abstract

The Chilean plants Discaria chacaye, Talguenea quinquenervia (Rhamnaceae), Peumus boldus (Monimiaceae), and Cryptocarya alba (Lauraceae) were evaluated against Codling moth: Cydia pomonella L. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae), which is one of the most widespread and destructive primary pests of Prunus (plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, almonds), pear, walnuts, and chestnuts, among other. Four benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (coclaurine, laurolitsine, boldine, and pukateine) were isolated from the above mentioned plant species and evaluated regarding their insecticidal activity against the codling moth and fruit fly. The results showed that these alkaloids possess acute and chronic insecticidal effects. The most relevant effect was observed at 10 µg/mL against D. melanogaster and at 50 µg/mL against C. pomonella, being the alteration of the feeding, deformations, failure in the displacement of the larvae in the feeding medium of D. melanogaster, and mortality visible effects. In addition, the docking results show that these type of alkaloids present a good interaction with octopamine and ecdysone receptor showing a possible action mechanism.

Highlights

Prunus are one of the main commodities produced in the agricultural business in Chile
Their structures were determined by classic spectroscopic methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry (MS), and comparison with data reported in the literature (Figures 1 and 2)
Toxic and insect growth regulator (IGR) properties of compounds 1–4 were evaluated against larvae of fruit fly D. melanogaster and lepidopteran crop pest C. pomonella

Summary

Introduction

Prunus are one of the main commodities produced in the agricultural business in Chile. The high demand for these products has driven an increase in the cultivated area year by year, which added to the need to expand the diversity of crops and meet the demands of organic and ecological production, and have motivated the need to search for new environmentally-friendly bio-pesticides [1]. These commodities suffer the attack of different insect pests being C. pomonella (L.). It is a species of brachyderus diptera of the Drosophilidae family It receives its name because it feeds on fruits under a fermentation process such as apples, bananas, and grapes. It does not constitute an agricultural pest as such, but it is an excellent model organism for the study of insecticidal activity [3,4]

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