BACKGROUND Destruxin A (DA) is a microbial insecticide with potent bioactivity against Spodoptera litura larvae. A previous proteomic analysis of S. litura (SL-1) cells exposed to DA showed the abnormal expression of wing disc-like protein of S. litura (SLAWD). To further understand the effect of DA on SLAWD expression, a functional study was carried out. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The SLAWD gene (SL...

A partial sequence of QM homologue was isolated from a Spodoptera litura fatbody suppression subtractive hybridization library. The full-length Spodoptera litura QM (SpLQM) cDNA of 838 bp contains a 5' untranslated region (UTR) of 112 bp, a 3' UTR of 66 bp, and an open reading frame of 660 nucleotides coding for a 219 amino acid peptide with a molecular weight of 25.5 kDa. Analysis of SpLQM seq...

Biotransformation of sinesetin (1) by larvae of Spodoptera litura was investigated. Compound 1 was converted to a new flavonoid, (+)-5,7,3',4'-tetramethoxyflavone-6-O-beta-D-glucoside (4), and two known flavones, 4'-hydroxy-5,6,7,3'-tetramethoxyflavone (2) and 6-hydroxy-5,7,3',4'-tetramethoxyflavone (3). These structures were established by IR, HR-EI-MS, HR-FAB-MS, 1D NMR, and 2D NMR spectral s...

Infectivity of polyhedra of Spodoptera litura multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus before and after passage through the gut of the predatory stink bug, Eocanthecona furcellata Wolff (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) was compared through field bioassay studies. Three sets of E. furcellata were used for bioassays and these were allowed to feed on a single meal of five third instar Oriental leaf worm, Spodoptera...

An originally isolated baculovirus, Spodoptera litura multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpltMNPV) was serially passed through the S. litura larvae for upto four generations to determine the mean number of occlusion bodies (OBs) harvested per larva and their efficacy in terms of infectivity, feeding cessation and speed of kill of host larvae. The results revealed that the mean number of OBs harvest...

Phytochemical investigation of the chloroform extract of Tinospora cordifolia yielded a new clerodane diterpenoid tincordin along with tinosporide, 8-hydroxytinosporide, columbin, 8-hydroxycolumbin and 10-hydroxycolumbin. The structure of the new compound was elucidated comprehensively using 1D and 2D NMR methods. All major clerodane diterpenoids isolated were tested for their efficacy as insec...

The indigenous small non-coding RNAs, known as microRNAs (miRNAs), are important regulators of gene expression and many of them are evolutionarily conserved. Whether stem-loop RT-PCR, as a sensitive method, could be utilized to clone conserved miRNAs from non-model insects lacks information. Here, three miRNAs, sli-miR-14, sli-miR-2a and sli-bantam, were cloned from Spodoptera litura by stem-lo...

The current identification of microRNAs (miRNAs) in insects is largely dependent on genome sequences. However, the lack of available genome sequences inhibits the identification of miRNAs in various insect species. In this study, we used a miRNA database of the silkworm Bombyx mori as a reference to identify miRNAs in Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera litura using deep sequencing and homology...

Cyclophilin D (CypD) is regulated during the innate immune response of insects. However, mechanism by which CypD activated under immunosuppression not understood. Microplitis bicoloratus bracovirus (MbBV), a symbiotic virus in parasitoid wasp, bicoloratus, suppresses immunity parasitized Spodoptera litura. Here, we demonstrate that MbBV promotes acetylation S. litura, resulting an immunosuppres...

Baculoviruses may interact with parasitoids in the same host. A previous study has shown that infection of larvae with Spodoptera litura nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpltNPV) was deleterious to the survival and development of Meteorus pulchricornis (Wesmael) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). In this paper, the interactions between M. pulchricornis and Spodoptera exigua multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (SeMNPV) ...