Abstract
Garlic, a widely cultivated global vegetable crop, is threatened by the underground pest Bradysia odoriphaga in China. Previous reports indicated that garlic essential oil, of which the dominant components are sulfides or thiosulfinates, exhibits insecticidal activity against pests. However, it is unclear whether the resistance of garlic to B. odoriphaga is related to thiosulfinates. Here, we compared the resistance of 10 garlic cultivars at various growth stages to B. odoriphaga by field investigation and indoor life-table data collection. Furthermore, the relationship between thiosulfinates content and resistance, as well as the toxicity of garlic oil and allicin against B. odoriphaga larvae was determined. Field surveys demonstrated that the garlic cultivars Qixian and Cangshan possessed the highest resistance, while Siliuban and Yishui were the most sensitive. When reared on Qixian, B. odoriphaga larval survival and fecundity declined by 26.2% and 17.7% respectively, but the development time was prolonged by 2.8 d compared with Siliuban. A positive correlation was detected between thiosulfinates content and resistance. Furthermore, garlic oil and allicin exhibited strong insecticidal activity. We screened out 2 pest-resistant cultivars, for which thiosulfinate content was highest. Additionally, the insecticidal activity displayed by sulfides and allcin suggests their potential for exploitation as botanical insecticides.
Highlights
Garlic, Allium sativum (Liliaceae: Allium), is an important commercial crop widely grown around the world, especially in Asia and North Africa[7], and China is the largest global exporter of garlic[8]
We demonstrated life table for B. odoriphaga reared on 10 garlic cultivars using the age-stage, two-sex life table method, which is able to portray the actual dynamics of the population more accurately than the traditional life table by comprehensively analyzing the information between different developmental stages and different sexes[33, 34]
Quantity of B. odoriphaga occurring in the fields of different garlic cultivars
Summary
Allium sativum (Liliaceae: Allium), is an important commercial crop widely grown around the world, especially in Asia and North Africa[7], and China is the largest global exporter of garlic[8]. It is one of the most commonly used ingredients as a flavor enhancer for sausage. Whether the resistance of garlic cultivars to B. odoriphaga differs and could be related to thiosulfinates, or whether sulfides exhibit insecticidal activity against B. odoriphaga, has scarcely been studied. The toxicity of garlic essential and allicin against B. odoriphaga were determined
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