Department of Zoology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India.
Departments of Microbiology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India.
J Appl Microbiol. 2019 Mar;126(3):881-893. doi: 10.1111/jam.14105. Epub 2019 Jan 15.
Recent concerns about the possible adverse effects of agricultural chemicals on health and environment have generated a considerable interest in biological alternatives. This study aimed to test the insecticidal potential of fungus Aspergillus flavus and revealed its genotoxic and cytotoxic effects using Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) as a model.
The fungus was isolated from the surface of the dead insect and investigated for its insecticidal potential against S. litura by bioassay studies. Significant increase in mortality, prolonged development period and reduced adult emergence in S. litura were observed in larva fed on diet supplemented with fungal extract. In addition, fungus was also found to cause oxidative stress, DNA damage and cell death. Significantly higher percentages of necrotic cells and DNA damage were observed in larvae treated with fungal extract. Furthermore, DNA repair studies predicted the longevity of toxic effects induced by fungus. Phytochemical and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography studies revealed the presence of phenolic compounds in the extract and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry indicated it to be a non-aflatoxin strain of A. flavus. Fungal extract was less toxic to mammalian cell lines as compared to cytotoxic drug doxorubicin (DOX) in the MTT assay.
The study highlights the insecticidal potential of A. flavus by revealing its genotoxicity and cytotoxicity causing potential. This is the first report showing the genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of the fungus A. flavus on S. litura.
The study provides a useful insight to explore microbial agents as biopesticides in order to reduce various environmental as well as human health problems due to synthetic pesticides.
最近人们对农业化学品可能对健康和环境造成的不利影响感到担忧，这引发了人们对生物替代品的极大兴趣。本研究旨在测试真菌黄曲霉的杀虫潜力，并以斜纹夜蛾（Fabricius）为模型揭示其遗传毒性和细胞毒性作用。
从死亡昆虫的表面分离出真菌，并通过生物测定研究调查其对斜纹夜蛾的杀虫潜力。在幼虫喂食补充真菌提取物的饮食时，观察到死亡率显著增加、发育期延长和成虫出现减少。此外，还发现真菌会引起氧化应激、DNA 损伤和细胞死亡。在用真菌提取物处理的幼虫中，观察到更高比例的坏死细胞和 DNA 损伤。此外，DNA 修复研究预测了真菌诱导的毒性作用的持久性。植物化学和超高效液相色谱研究表明提取物中存在酚类化合物，液质联用表明其为黄曲霉的非黄曲霉毒素菌株。与细胞毒性药物阿霉素（DOX）相比，真菌提取物在 MTT 测定中对哺乳动物细胞系的毒性较低。
本研究通过揭示其遗传毒性和细胞毒性作用，突出了黄曲霉的杀虫潜力。这是第一个报道显示真菌黄曲霉对斜纹夜蛾的遗传毒性和细胞毒性作用的研究。
该研究提供了有益的见解，以探索微生物制剂作为生物农药，以减少由于合成农药而引起的各种环境和人类健康问题。
