Biochemical and molecular impact of plant essential oils and their terpenoids on two arthropod pests
Date
2021-05
Authors
Huerter, Courtney Nicole
Major Professor
Advisor
Coats, Joel
Keating, Aileen
Smith, Ryan
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Abstract
With a growing prevalence of insecticide resistance in medically relevant pests, new methods of insecticidal chemistries, the use of natural products, and synergists are being investigated as ways to evade this resistance. Plant essential oils and their constituent terpenoids have been identified as an effective method of arthropod control while being a safer alternative to the commercial synthetic insecticides. Here we identify the ability of these natural products to have a biochemical and molecular impact on two arthropod pests, the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) and the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti). The biochemical impact of select monoterpenoids that are proven to be acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in mosquito species are investigated as a method of acaricide control in the D. variabilis model. Additionally, plant essential oils are identified as potential synergists to synthetic insecticides due to the molecular impact they have on the regulation of metabolic genes, specifically cytochrome P450-dependent monooxygenase genes in Aedes aegypti. Together, these findings support the growing body of work that natural products are a safe alternative to pest control, while proving new ways plant essential oils and their constituent terpenoids can be utilized in conjunction with traditional insecticides to become a more effective method of control, even for resistant arthropods.
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