Xenobiotic metabolism of plant secondary compounds in the English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae (F.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Maoxin Zhang, Tingting Fang, Guilin Pu, Xiaoqin Sun, Xuguo Zhou, Qingnian Cai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

Plant secondary compounds have been documented to be deleterious to insects and other herbivores in diverse ways. In this study, the effect of catechol (phenolics), gramine (alkaloid) and L-ornithine-HCI (non-protein amino acid) on the activities of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes in English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae, was evaluated. Phase I enzymes investigated in this study included carboxylesterase (CarE), and oxidoreductase, whereas Phase II enzymes were represented by glutathione S-transferase (GST). In general, CarE and GST activities in S. avenae were positively correlated with the concentration of plant secondary compounds in artificial diets. Oxidoreductase activity, however, displayed a different profile. Specifically, peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities in S. avenae were positively correlated with concentrations of dietary catechol and gramine, respectively, whereas catalase (CAT) activity was significantly suppressed by the higher concentration of catechol, gramine and L-ornithine-HCl. These combined results suggest that CarE and GST in S. avenae are key enzymes to breakdown a broad spectrum of plant secondary compounds, whereas oxidoreductase, including PPO and POD, degrades specific groups of plant secondary compounds.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)44-49
Number of pages6
JournalPesticide Biochemistry and Physiology
Volume107
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2013

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Authors are grateful to editor and anonymous reviewers for their critical comments and suggestions. Special thanks go to Dr. John Obrycki (Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky) for his comments on an earlier draft. This work was supported by Public Welfare Project from Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China (Grant No. 201103022-7 ) and National Support Program (Grant No. 2006BAD08A05 ), Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China .

Keywords

  • Phase I and II detoxification enzymes
  • Plant defense
  • Secondary plant compounds
  • Sitobion avenae
  • Xenobiotic metabolism

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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