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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2011, Vol. 10 Issue (7): 1056-1063    DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(11)60094-1
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A Photosensitivity Insecticide, 5-Aminolevulinic Acid, Exerts EffectiveToxicity to Oxya chinensis (Orthoptera: Acridoidea)
Research Institute of Applied Biology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, P.R.China
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摘要  5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA), a major photosensitivity insecticide, has attracted increasing attention as a new type of highly efficient, environmental friendly pesticide to be used to control the pest. To examine whether or not ALA acts effectively to grasshopper, Oxya chinensis and elucidate the detoxification mechanism of ALA, the susceptibility to ALA was assessed in O. chinensis and two major metabolic detoxification enzymes including glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and general esterases (ESTs)-specific activities were compared in different development stages and different body sections
of O. chinensis treated by ALA and the control. The results showed that the ALA exhibited obvious toxicity to the grasshopper in different development stages. In the low-dose treatment (0.0597 mmol L-1), the mortalities of O. chinensis reached a significant level (55.5% in the 1st instar nymphs, 61.4% in the 2nd instar nymphs, 71.4% in the 3rd instar nymphs, and 64.4% in the 4th instar nymphs. But, there was no dose-dependent toxic effect. Thereby, we proposed that ALA has the potential for acting as photosensitivity insecticide for controlling O. chinensis. GSTs activity assays using CDNB and DCNB as substrates indicated that the thorax and abdomen of the different instar nymphs treated by ALA showed 1.52-5.56 fold significantly increased GSTs activities compared with the control. However, for the ESTs-specific activity assay, there was no significant difference between O. chinensis treated by ALA and the control within different instar nymphs, when α-NA, α-NB and β-NA were used as substrates. Therefore, GSTs-mediated metabolic detoxification
as evidenced by significantly increased GSTs activities might contribute to protect against oxidative damage and oxidative
stress by ALA in O. chinensis.

Abstract  5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA), a major photosensitivity insecticide, has attracted increasing attention as a new type of highly efficient, environmental friendly pesticide to be used to control the pest. To examine whether or not ALA acts effectively to grasshopper, Oxya chinensis and elucidate the detoxification mechanism of ALA, the susceptibility to ALA was assessed in O. chinensis and two major metabolic detoxification enzymes including glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and general esterases (ESTs)-specific activities were compared in different development stages and different body sections
of O. chinensis treated by ALA and the control. The results showed that the ALA exhibited obvious toxicity to the grasshopper in different development stages. In the low-dose treatment (0.0597 mmol L-1), the mortalities of O. chinensis reached a significant level (55.5% in the 1st instar nymphs, 61.4% in the 2nd instar nymphs, 71.4% in the 3rd instar nymphs, and 64.4% in the 4th instar nymphs. But, there was no dose-dependent toxic effect. Thereby, we proposed that ALA has the potential for acting as photosensitivity insecticide for controlling O. chinensis. GSTs activity assays using CDNB and DCNB as substrates indicated that the thorax and abdomen of the different instar nymphs treated by ALA showed 1.52-5.56 fold significantly increased GSTs activities compared with the control. However, for the ESTs-specific activity assay, there was no significant difference between O. chinensis treated by ALA and the control within different instar nymphs, when α-NA, α-NB and β-NA were used as substrates. Therefore, GSTs-mediated metabolic detoxification
as evidenced by significantly increased GSTs activities might contribute to protect against oxidative damage and oxidative
stress by ALA in O. chinensis.
Keywords:  5-aminolevulinic acid      toxicity      glutathione S-transferases      general esterases      Oxya chinensis  
Received: 02 November 2010   Accepted:
Corresponding Authors:  ZHANG Jian-zhen,Professor     E-mail:  ymlpass@sxu.edu.cn
About author:  YANG Mei-ling,Ph.D

Cite this article: 

YANG Mei-ling; YIN Kun; GUO Ya-ping; MA En-bo and ZHANG Jian-zhen. 2011. A Photosensitivity Insecticide, 5-Aminolevulinic Acid, Exerts EffectiveToxicity to Oxya chinensis (Orthoptera: Acridoidea). Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 10(7): 1056-1063.

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