Eco-friendly control of malaria and arbovirus vectors using the mosquitofish Gambusia affinis and ultra-low dosages of Mimusops elengi-synthesized silver nanoparticles: towards an integrative approach?

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 22; no. 24; pp. 20067 - 20083
• Main Authors: Subramaniam, Jayapal, Murugan, Kadarkarai, Panneerselvam, Chellasamy, Kovendan, Kalimuthu, Madhiyazhagan, Pari, Kumar, Palanisamy Mahesh, Dinesh, Devakumar, Chandramohan, Balamurugan, Suresh, Udaiyan, Nicoletti, Marcello, Higuchi, Akon, Hwang, Jiang-Shiou, Kumar, Suresh, Alarfaj, Abdullah A, Munusamy, Murugan A, Messing, Russell H, Benelli, Giovanni
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aedes - drug effects; Aedes albopictus; Animals; Anopheles - drug effects; Anopheles stephensi; Aquatic Pollution; Arbovirus; Arbovirus Infections - prevention & control; arboviruses; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Biological control; biological control agents; Culicidae; Cyprinodontiformes - physiology; Dengue fever; Developmental stages; Drug dosages; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; energy-dispersive X-ray analysis; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Female; fish; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; Fourier transforms; Freshwater; Gambusia affinis; Insect Vectors; Insecticides; Insecticides - pharmacology; instars; Laboratories; Larva - drug effects; Larvae; leaf extracts; lethal concentration 50; Malaria; Malaria - prevention & control; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Mimusops - chemistry; Mimusops elengi; Mortality; Mosquito Control; mosquito-borne diseases; Mosquitoes; Nanoparticles; nanosilver; Natural enemies; Pathogens; people; Plant extracts; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Plant Leaves - chemistry; Population studies; Predation; Predatory Behavior; Pupa - drug effects; pupae; Research Article; Silver; Silver - pharmacology; Spectrophotometry; Toxicity; transmission electron microscopy; Vector-borne diseases; Vectors; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; X-ray diffraction; Malaysia; Africa; Taiwan; Green-synthesis; Malaria; TEM-EDX; Biological control; Dengue; FTIR; EDX; XRD; Nanobiotechnology; Anopheles stephensi; Aedes aegypti
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-015-5253-5

Mosquito-borne diseases represent a deadly threat for millions of people worldwide. However, the use of synthetic insecticides to control Culicidae may lead to high operational costs and adverse non-target effects. Plant-borne compounds have been proposed for rapid extracellular synthesis of mosquitocidal nanoparticles. Their impact against biological control agents of mosquito larval populations has been poorly studied. We synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNP) using the aqueous leaf extract of Mimusops elengi as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The formation of AgNP was studied using different biophysical methods, including UV–vis spectrophotometry, TEM, XRD, EDX and FTIR. Low doses of AgNP showed larvicidal and pupicidal toxicity against the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi and the arbovirus vector Aedes albopictus. AgNP LC₅₀ against A. stephensi ranged from 12.53 (I instar larvae) to 23.55 ppm (pupae); LC₅₀ against A. albopictus ranged from 11.72 ppm (I) to 21.46 ppm (pupae). In the field, the application of M. elengi extract and AgNP (10 × LC₅₀) led to 100 % larval reduction after 72 h. In adulticidal experiments, AgNP showed LC₅₀ of 13.7 ppm for A. stephensi and 14.7 ppm for A. albopictus. The predation efficiency of Gambusia affinis against A. stephensi and A. albopictus III instar larvae was 86.2 and 81.7 %, respectively. In AgNP-contaminated environments, predation was 93.7 and 88.6 %, respectively. This research demonstrates that M. elengi-synthesized AgNP may be employed at ultra-low doses to reduce larval populations of malaria and arbovirus vectors, without detrimental effects on predation rates of mosquito natural enemies, such as larvivorous fishes.