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RESEARCH NOTE PHOTOTOXICITY OF CITRAL TO Trichoplusia ni (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE) AND ITS AMELIORATION BY VITAMIN A
Author(s) -
Green Ellen S.,
Berenbaum May R.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1994.tb05134.x
Subject(s) - citral , phototoxicity , trichoplusia , noctuidae , biology , lepidoptera genitalia , botany , chemistry , biochemistry , essential oil , in vitro
Citral, a monoterpene aldehyde synthesized by several plant families, was recently shown to exhibit ultraviolet A light (320–400 nm) (UVA)‐enhanced oxygen‐dependent toxicity against bacteria and fungi ( Escherichia coli and Fusarium species). In this study, we report for the first time that citral is phototoxic to insects; at concentrations of 300 ppm in artificial diet, mortality of first instar Trichoplusia ni (cabbage loopers) approached 30% after 120 h of UVA exposure, approximately double the mortality level in the absence of UVA. At 300 ppm, the antioxidant vitamin A reduces citral phototoxicity by about 50% in this species, suggesting that citral phototoxicity against insects is oxygen dependent.