Larvicidal and Adulticidal Effect of Plant-derived Extracts and Their Effect on Gut Homeostasis in Mosquitoes

Description

Mosquito control with insecticides has been an important tool in the fight against malaria; however, the evolution of insecticide resistance threatens current malaria control methods and, therefore, alternative control measures are needed. The present study is designed to elaborate on the larvicidal and adulticidal effect of plant-derived bioactive substances as well as their possible role in gut homeostasis in larvae and adult mosquitoes. The proposed project will also focus on the identification of the plant-derived extract composition using GC-MS and their efficacy as larvicidal and adulticidal in larvae and adult mosquitoes, respectively. We will expose the larvae and adult mosquitoes to different doses of plant-derived extracts. The anti-oxidant gene expression level of the plant-derived extracts treated group (larvae/adult mosquito) will be compared to the untreated group (larvae/adult mosquito). The expected results will indicate that the different plant-derived extracts may have different larvicidal and adulticidal mortality rates. Similarly, these plant bioactive molecules may alter the detoxification activity of the antioxidant enzymes (GST activity) in the gut, which will result in homeostasis disturbances and will lead to the death of mosquitoes. It is concluded that the plant leaf extracts bioactive molecules, which are effective may be developed as an eco-friendly strategy for larvicidal and adulticidal mosquitoes vector control. Detailed identification and characterization of the mosquitocidal effect of individual bioactive molecules ingredient may result in biodegradable effective tools for the control of mosquito vectors. Furthermore, it will help in understanding the gut homeostatic conditions and the involvement of different anti-oxidant genes, which might be useful in devising strategies to control mosquito and mosquito-borne diseases.