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Dr. Panagiotis J. Skouras

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Guest Editor

Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology and Zoology, Department of Agriculture, University of the Peloponnese, Kalamata Campus, 24100 Antikalamos, Greece
Interests: integrated pest management of insect; biological control; toxicology; insecticide resistance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. George J. Stathas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Insect pests can cause significant quality and yield losses to crops and can potentially threaten nutrition, food safety, and human health. Insecticide application is a crucial factor in managing agricultural pest and vector populations that transmit diseases. A consequence of the repeated use of pesticides is the development of resistance to many pests, adverse effects on the environment, and the reduction in populations of natural enemies followed by the resurgence or secondary pest outbreaks. The scope of this Special Issue includes but is not limited to (i) insecticide resistance of pesticides and its management and (ii) the toxic effects of chemicals and their impact on the insect population and/or community level. We are particularly interested in manuscripts that include research articles, review articles, short communications, and opinion articles related to the extended topic of “Chemical Toxicology and Insecticide Resistance on Insect Pests”.

Dr. Panagiotis J. Skouras
Prof. Dr. George J. Stathas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

insecticides
toxicology
insecticide resistance management
resistance mechanisms
integrated pest management

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

18 pages, 3857 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Synergistic Effect of Lemongrass Essential Oil and Flometoquin, Flonicamid, and Sulfoxaflor on Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae): Insights into Toxicity, Biochemical Impact, and Molecular Docking

by Moataz A. M. Moustafa, Fatma S. Ahmed, Nawal Abdulaziz Alfuhaid, Nourhan A. El-Said, El-Desoky S. Ibrahim and Mona Awad

Insects 2024, 15(5), 302; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/insects15050302 - 24 Apr 2024

Viewed by 329

Abstract

The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.), is one of the most dangerous polyphagous pests in the world. Eco-friendly compounds and new chemical insecticides have gained recognition for whitefly control. In this study, the toxicity and biochemical impact of flometoquin, flonicamid, and sulfoxaflor, alone or combined with lemongrass essential oil (EO), against B. tabaci was studied. In addition, a molecular docking study was conducted to assess the binding affinity of the tested compounds to AchE. Based on the LC values, the descending order of the toxicity of the tested compounds to B. tabaci adults was as follows: sulfoxaflor > flonicamid > flometoquin > lemongrass EO. The binary mixtures of each of the tested compounds with lemongrass EO exhibited synergism in all combinations, with observed mortalities ranging from 15.09 to 22.94% higher than expected for an additive effect. Sulfoxaflor and flonicamid, alone or in combination with lemongrass EO, significantly inhibited AchE activity while only flonicamid demonstrated a significant impact on α-esterase, and none of the tested compounds affected cytochrome P450 or GST. However, the specific activity of P450 was significantly inhibited by the lemongrass/sulfoxaflor mixture while α-esterase activity was significantly inhibited by the lemongrass/flometoquin mixture. Moreover, the lemongrass EO and all the tested insecticides exhibited significant binding affinity to AchE with energy scores ranging from −4.69 to −7.06 kcal/mol. The current findings provide a foundation for utilizing combinations of essential oils and insecticides in the integrated pest management (IPM) of B. tabaci. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Toxicology and Insecticide Resistance on Insect Pests)

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