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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » Natural Products Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #398599
Research Project: Biopesticide Discovery and Development

Location: Natural Products Utilization Research

Title: Larvicidal constituents from Poncirus trifoliata root extracts

Author
item Meepagala, Kumudini
item Estep Iii, Alden

Submitted to: Journal of Medical Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/23/2023
Publication Date: 7/6/2023
Citation: Meepagala, K.M., Estep III, A.S. 2023. Larvicidal constituents from Poncirus trifoliata root extracts. Journal of Medical Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjad086.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjad086

Interpretive Summary: Aedes aegypti mosquitoes spread diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever and other viruses that can cause severe morbidity and mortality in humans. Since Ae. aegypti mosquitoes prefer to feed on people for a blood meal; these mosquitoes spread viruses among humans more than other mosquito species. In the search for effective and environmentally friendly mosquito control agents, we have examined plants belong to the Rutaceae family as the members of this family are known to possess bioactive compounds. In this paper we report the isolation and structure elucidation of mosquito larvicidal constituents from Poncirus trifoliata, a member of the Rutaceae family. We isolated five compounds with moderate to weak larvicide activity. The common feature of these compounds is that they are all coumarins.

Technical Abstract: Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the primary vectors in the transmission of viral pathogens such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever and other viruses that can cause severe morbidity and mortality in humans. Since Ae. aegypti mosquitoes prefer to feed on people for a blood meal; these mosquitoes spread viral diseases to humans more than other less anthropophilic mosquitoes. Vector control is one of the major efforts to mitigate the spread of vector-borne diseases. Mosquito species have developed resistance due to prolonged overuse of current classes of public health pesticides. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop pesticides to control the vectors that are responsible for spread of diseases. However, their main attribute should be a novel mode of action compared to those currently in the market. In the search of effective and environmentally friendly mosquito control agents, we have examined plants belong to the Rutaceae family as the members of this family are known to possess bioactive compounds with algicidal, antifungal, insecticidal and fungicidal activities. In this paper we report the isolation and structure elucidation of mosquito larvicidal constituents from Poncirus trifoliata (Rutaceae) root extract. We have isolated xanthoxyletin, demethylsuberosin, dentatin, nordentatin and clausarin. The common feature of these compounds is they all are coumarins. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by NMR and high-resolution mass spectroscopy. The most active larvicidal compound isolated was determined to be xanthoxyletin with a LC50 value of 29.77 ppm (R2= 0.9814) whereas the positive control permethrin showed the LC50 values of 0.01042 ppm (R2= 0.9586).