Plant volatile analogues strengthen attractiveness to insect

PLoS One. 2014 Jun 9;9(6):e99142. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099142. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Green leaf bug Apolygus lucorum (Meyer-Dür) is one of the major pests in agriculture. Management of A. lucorum was largely achieved by using pesticides. However, the increasing population of A. lucorum since growing Bt cotton widely and the increased awareness of ecoenvironment and agricultural product safety makes their population-control very challenging. Therefore this study was conducted to explore a novel ecological approach, synthetic plant volatile analogues, to manage the pest. Here, plant volatile analogues were first designed and synthesized by combining the bioactive components of β-ionone and benzaldehyde. The stabilities of β-ionone, benzaldehyde and analogue 3 g were tested. The electroantennogram (EAG) responses of A. lucorum adult antennae to the analogues were recorded. And the behavior assay and filed experiment were also conducted. In this study, thirteen analogues were acquired. The analogue 3 g was demonstrated to be more stable than β-ionone and benzaldehyde in the environment. Many of the analogues elicited EAG responses, and the EAG response values to 3 g remained unchanged during seven-day period. 3 g was also demonstrated to be attractive to A. lucorum adults in the laboratory behavior experiment and in the field. Its attractiveness persisted longer than β-ionone and benzaldehyde. This indicated that 3 g can strengthen attractiveness to insect and has potential as an attractant. Our results suggest that synthetic plant volatile analogues can strengthen attractiveness to insect. This is the first published study about synthetic plant volatile analogues that have the potential to be used in pest control. Our results will support a new ecological approach to pest control and it will be helpful to ecoenvironment and agricultural product safety.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Hemiptera*
  • Pest Control*
  • Pesticides* / chemical synthesis
  • Pesticides* / chemistry
  • Pesticides* / pharmacology
  • Volatile Organic Compounds* / chemical synthesis
  • Volatile Organic Compounds* / chemistry
  • Volatile Organic Compounds* / pharmacology

Substances

  • Pesticides
  • Volatile Organic Compounds

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Funds (No. 31321004) from National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (201103012) from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.