Synergistic effects of botanical curcumin-induced programmed cell death on the management of Spodoptera litura Fabricius with avermectin

• Published in: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety Vol. 229; p. 113097
• Main Authors: Cui, Gaofeng, Yuan, Haiqi, He, Wei, Deng, Yukun, Sun, Ranran, Zhong, Guohua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.01.2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Apoptosis; Avermectin; Curcumin; Curcumin - pharmacology; Ivermectin - analogs & derivatives; Ivermectin - toxicity; Larva; Programed cell death; Spodoptera; Spodoptera litura; Synergistic effects; Foxo; GluCl; DMSO; MTT; MDC; Synergistic effects; PI3K; RFI; ME; mTOR; Curcumin; Programed cell death; TBS; HE staining; qRT-PCR; GAAR; Akt; DMRT; LC50; Spodoptera litura; Atg; LysoTracker; GABAt; Avermectin; GAPDH
• ISSN: 0147-6513; 1090-2414; 1090-2414
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.113097

Chemical pesticides and adjuvants have caused many negative effects. Botanical compounds provide solutions for the development of environment friendly pesticides and the management of increasing pest resistance. Curcumin, a natural polyphenol, showed synergistic effects on avermectin upon the destructive agricultural pest, Spodoptera litura. However, the botanical synergist and its relevant mechanisms remain unclear. In the article, curcumin significantly enhanced the growth inhibition and midgut structural damage of avermectin on the larvae of S. litura, and the synergistic effects were confirmed with pot experiments. There were only a few influences on the gene expression of avermectin targets, while apoptotic and autophagic related genes and proteins were accumulated in the avermectin/curcumin mixed regent (0.013/0.0013 μg/mL) treated group. Moreover, the potential mechanism was explored with an in vitro model, insect Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cell line. Morphology observation featured the damage on cells and Hoechst33258 staining revealed the fragments of DNA after treating with the avermectin/curcumin mixed regent (10/1 μg/mL). Dansylcadaverine and LysoTracker staining, as well as the gene expressions, supposed that curcumin exhibited autophagy inducing effects and the mixed regent possessed a higher ability to induce apoptosis and autophagy. All these results suggested that the synergistic effects of curcumin on the pest management of avermectin potentially mainly derived from the enhancement of programed cell death. It provides new sights for the application of natural compounds in integrated pest management and enriches examples of synergistic mechanisms. [Display omitted] •Curcumin showed synergistic effects on avermectin upon Spodoptera litura.•Curcumin enhanced growth inhibition and midgut damage of avermectin in vivo.•Apoptotic and autophagic related genes were accumulated by the mixed regent.•Enhanced programed cell death was supposed as the potential synergistic mechanism.