Journal of Environmental Biology

Effects of Indian coral tree, Erythrina indica lectin on eggs and

larval development of melon fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae

 

 

Kuljinder Singh¹, Manpreet Kaur², Pushpinder J. Rup¹ and Jatinder Singh²

¹Insect Physiology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, ²Protein Laboratory, Department of Molecular Biology

and Biochemistry, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar - 143 005, India

(Received: May 09, 2007; Revised received: September 22, 2007;? Accepted: October 03, 2007)

 

Abstract: Present study was undertaken to investigate the influence of D-galactose binding lectin from Erythrina indica Lam. on the eggs and second instar larvae (64-72 hr) of melon fruit fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett). The lectin from E. indica seeds was extracted and purified by affinity chromatography using asilofetuin linked porous amino activated silica beads. The effects of various concentrations (0, 125, 250, 500 and 1000 ?g ml^-1) of lectin were studied on freshly laid eggs (0-8 hr) of B. cucurbitae which showed non-significant reduction in percent hatching of eggs.? However, the treatment of second instar larvae (64-72 hr) with various test concentrations (0, 25, 50, 100 and 200 ?g ml^-1) of lectin significantly reduced the percent pupation and percent emergence of B. cucurbitae depicting a negative correlation with the lectin concentration. The LC₅₀ (81?g ml^-1) treatment significantly decreased the pupal weight. Moreover, the treatment of larvae had also induced a significant increase in the remaining development duration. The activity of three hydrolase enzymes (esterases, acid and alkaline phosphatases), one oxidoreductase (catalase) and one group transfer enzyme (glutathione S-transferases) was assayed in second instar larvae under the influence of LC₅₀ concentration of lectin for three exposure intervals (24, 48 and 72 hr). It significantly suppressed the activity of all the enzymes after all the three exposure intervals except for esterases which increased significantly.

Key words: Lectin, Erythrina indica, Bactrocera cucurbitae, Development, Esterases, Phosphatases, Catalase, Transferases

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