Gossypol as an inducer or inhibitor inspodoftera littoralislarvae

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Abstract
Gossypol occurs naturally in the pigment glands in cotton. It has a role in protecting cotton plants from insect pests such as bollworms, yet it was not toxic to the cotton leafworm larvae S. littoralis up to 2-5% concentration in artificial diet or at 125 .mu.g/larva by topical application. The compound inhibited protease and lipid peroxidase activities in larvae with in vitro I50 values [median inhibition] of 1.5 .times. 10-3 M and 4.4 .times. 10-4 M, respectively. When gossypol was fed to Spodoptera larvae, it stimulated the microsomal N-demethylase in vitro. This inductive effect was time dependent similar to that of phenobarbital. Gossypol stimulates ATPase at lower concentrations and inhibited it at higher concentrations. The I50 for mitochondrial ATPase was 1.7 .times. 10-4 M, while the corresponding values for DDT and fenvalerate were 1.1 .times. 10-4 M and 7.0 .times. 10-4 M, respectively. Gossypol at 1.5% concentration in the diet reduced the larval weight to 50% of the control within 2 days, and increased the duration of each larval stage. The number of eggs and their hatchability was seriously decreased in larvae treated for 3 consecutive generations. Such an effect can be attributed to the ability of gossypol to interfere with protein biosynthesis.

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