Degradation of the Novel Heterocyclic Insecticide Pyraquinil in Water: Kinetics, Degradation Pathways, Transformation Products Identification, and Toxicity Assessment.

As new pesticides are continuously introduced into agricultural systems, it is essential to investigate their environmental behavior and toxicity effects to better evaluate their potential risks. In this study, the degradation kinetics, pathways, and aquatic toxicity of the new fused heterocyclic insecticide pyraquinil in water under different conditions were investigated for the first time. Pyraquinil was classified as an easily degradable pesticide in natural water, and hydrolyzes faster in alkaline conditions and at higher temperatures. The formation trends of the main transformation products (TPs) of pyraquinil were also quantified. Fifteen TPs were identified in water using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Orbitrap-HRMS) and Compound Discoverer software, which adopted suspect and nontarget screening strategies. Among them, twelve TPs were reported for the first time and 11 TPs were confirmed by synthesis of their standards. The proposed degradation pathways have demonstrated that the 4,5-dihydropyrazolo[1,5-a]quinazoline skeleton of pyraquinil is stable enough to retain in its TPs. ECOSAR prediction and laboratory tests showed that pyraquinil was "very toxic" or "toxic" to aquatic organisms, while the toxicities of all of the TPs are substantially lower than that of pyraquinil except for TP484, which was predicted to pose a higher toxicity. The results are important for elucidating the fate and assessing the environmental risks of pyraquinil, and provide guidance for scientific and reasonable use.

[Chiral separation of new chiral insecticide pyraquinil isomers and establishment of analytical methods in vegetables].

Pyraquinil (Pyr), with a new skeleton of pyrazolo[1,5-a]quinazoline fused heterocycle, is a new chiral insecticide independently developed by South China Agricultural University in 2017. In previous studies, we found that pyraquinil can effectively control the lepidopteran pest population on cruciferous crops. Remarkably, the insecticidal activity of pyraquinil was 64-fold better than that of fipronil against the fipronil-resistant Plutella xylostella field population. Pesticides with new active mechanisms should be developed in the future to cope with the development of resistance to Plutella xylostella. Therefore, pyraquinil with new active sites has the potential to be the main rotation variety for the control of Plutella xylostella. Thus, pyraquinil has a broad prospect for application in the future. However, a chiral separation and analysis method for pyraquinil and oxidation products using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) has not been established yet. Based on the physical and chemical properties of the new chiral pesticide pyraquinil, we screened chiral chromatographic columns and optimized the mobile phase ratio in this study. The separation and analysis methods for pyraquinil were developed based on the QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe) system. Simultaneously, we also established oxidation metabolites. These methods were used for the simultaneous determination of the chiral isomers of pyraquinil and oxidation products in pakchoi (Brassica rapa ssp. chinensis L.) and water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica Forsk) via HPLC-MS/MS. The Chiral INC column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 µm) was used for separation. Ammonium formate aqueous solution (2 mmol/L) and acetonitrile were used as the mobile phases. The column temperature was 28 ℃. The injection volume was 1 µL, and the flow rate was 0.5 mL/min. MS analysis was performed using an electrospray ionization source in the negative and multiple reaction monitoring modes. We found that under the optimized conditions, the resolution of the four isomers of pyraquinil were 1.63, 2.83, and 1.74, respectively, and the resolution of the isomers of the pyraquinil oxidation product was 5.82, which achieved baseline separation. Then, the absolute configuration and peak order of pyraquinil and oxidation product isomers were determined by derivatization. The order of the peaks was RS-Pyr, SS-Pyr, RR-Pyr, SR-Pyr, S-Pyr+O, and R-Pyr+O. The purification conditions of sample pretreatment were optimized; 1 g (0.835 g MgSO4+0.150 g PSA+0.015 g GCB) was determined to be the optimal purification agent; and the average recoveries ranged from 80% to 110%. The chiral isomers of pyraquinil and oxidation products showed good linearity in the concentration range of 1.25 to 1250 µg/L and 2.5 to 2500 µg/L respectively. The square of the regression coefficient of the linear equation (R2) was greater than 0.99. The matrix effects of the pyraquinil and oxidation product isomers in pakchoi ranged from 6.1 to 30.6. In the water spinach, the matrix effect of the pyraquinil and oxidation product isomers were in the range of 0.7-26.8. The average recoveries of pyraquinil isomer at three spiked levels of 0.25, 5, 100 µg/kg in samples (pakchoi and water spinach) ranged from 90.2% to 110.6%. The oxidation product isomer average recoveries in samples (pakchoi and water spinach) spiked with 0.5, 10, 200 µg/kg ranged from 72.6% to 100.1%. Further, the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 0.5%-9.4%. In water spinach, the intra-day and inter-day repeatability RSDs ranged from 0.5% to 8.7% and 1.0%to 8.6%, respectively. In pakchoi, the intra-day and inter-day repeatability RSDs ranged from 0.6% to 9.4% and 1.0% to 7.6%, respectively. These results indicate that the proposed method has satisfactory sensitivity, accuracy, and precision. This study can provide analytic technology for a novel chiral pesticide for environmental behavior studies, quality control, and pharmacodynamics evaluation, as well as significant technical support for the development and application of new pesticides.

Study on Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion Properties of Novel Insecticidal GABA Receptor Antagonist, Pyraquinil, in Diamondback Moth Combining MALDI Mass Spectrometry Imaging and High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry.

A thorough understanding of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of insecticide candidates is essential in insecticide development and structural optimization. Here, ADME of pyraquinil, a novel insecticidal GABA receptor antagonist, in Plutella xylostella larvae during the accumulation phase and depuration phase was investigated separately using a combination of UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap, HPLC-MS/MS, and MALDI-MSI. Five new metabolites of pyraquinil were identified, and a metabolic pathway was proposed. The oxidative metabolite (pyraquinil-sulfone) was identified as the main metabolite and confirmed by its standard. Quantitative results showed that pyraquinil was taken up by the larvae rapidly and then undergone a cytochrome P450s-mediated oxidative transformation into pyraquinil-sulfone. Both fecal excretion and oxidative metabolism were demonstrated to be predominant ways to eliminate pyraquinil in P. xylostella larvae during accumulation, while oxidative metabolism followed by fecal excretion was probably the major pathway during depuration. MALDI-MSI revealed that pyraquinil was homogeneously distributed in the larvae, while pyraquinil-sulfone presented a continuous enrichment in the midgut during accumulation. Conversely, pyraquinil-sulfone located in hemolymph can be preferentially eliminated during depuration, suggesting its tissue tropism. It improves the understanding of the fate of pyraquinil in P. xylostella and provides useful information for insecticidal mechanism elucidation and structural optimization of pyraquinil.

Scale Drop Disease Virus Associated Yellowfin Seabream (Acanthopagrus latus) Ascites Diseases, Zhuhai, Guangdong, Southern China: The First Description.

Scale drop disease virus (SDDV), an emerging piscine iridovirus prevalent in farmed Asian seabass Lates calcarifer in Southeast Asia, was firstly scientifically descripted in Singapore in 2015. Here, an SDDV isolate ZH-06/20 was isolated by inoculating filtered ascites from diseased juvenile yellowfin seabream into MFF-1 cell. Advanced cytopathic effects were observed 6 days post-inoculation. A transmission electron microscopy examination confirmed that numerous virion particles, about 140 nm in diameter, were observed in infected MFF-1 cell. ZH-06/20 was further purified and both whole genome and virion proteome were determined. The results showed that ZH-06/20 was composed of 131,122 bp with 135 putative viral proteins and 113 of them were further detected by virion proteome. Western blot analysis showed that no (or weak) cross-reaction was observed among several major viral proteins between ZH-06/20 and ISKNV-like megalocytivirus. An artificial challenge showed that ZH-06/20 could cause 100% death to juvenile yellowfin seabream. A typical sign was characterized by severe ascites, but not scale drop, which was considerably different from SDD syndrome in Asian seabass. Collectively, SDDV was confirmed, for the first time, as the causative agent of ascites diseases in farmed yellowfin seabream. Our study offers useful information to better understanding SDDV-associated diseases in farmed fish.

Unconditional and conditional analysis of epistasis between tillering QTLs based on single segment substitution lines in rice.

Epistasis plays an important role in manipulating rice tiller number, but epistatic mechanism still remains a challenge. Here we showed the process of epistatic analysis between tillering QTLs. A half diallel mating scheme was conducted based on 6 single segment substitution lines and 9 dual segment pyramiding lines to allow the analysis of 4 epistatic components. Additive-additive, additive-dominance, dominance-additive, and dominance-dominance epistatic effects were estimated at 9 stages of development via unconditional QTL analysis simultaneously. Unconditional QTL effect (QTL cumulative effect before a certain stage) was then divided into several conditional QTL components (QTL net effect in a certain time interval). The results indicated that epistatic interaction was prevalent, all QTL pairs harboring epistasis and one QTL always interacting with other QTLs in various component ways. Epistatic effects were dynamic, occurring mostly within 14d and 21-35d after transplant and exhibited mainly negative effects. The genetic and developmental mechanism on several tillering QTLs was further realized and perhaps was useful for molecular pyramiding breeding and heterosis utilization for improving plant architecture.

Laboratory evaluation of aqueous leaf extract of Tephrosia vogelii against larvae of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) and non-target aquatic organisms.

Mosquito control using insecticides has been the most successful intervention known to reduce malaria prevalence or incidence. However, vector control is facing a threat due to the emergence of resistance to synthetic insecticides. Insecticides of botanical origin may serve as suitable alternative biocontrol techniques in the future. In this research, the leaf aqueous leachate of Tephrosia vogelii was evaluated for its toxicity against larvae of the most invasive mosquito worldwide, Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae), and toward adults of the water flea, Daphnia magna (Cladocera: Crustacea) and Oreochromis niloticus, two non-target aquatic organisms that share the same ecological niche of A. albopictus. The leaf aqueous leachate of T. vogelii was evaluated against fourth-instar larvae, non-blood fed 3-5 days old laboratory strains of A. albopictus under laboratory condition. In addition, the objective of the present work was to study the environmental safety evaluation for aquatic ecosystem. Mortality was then recorded after 7d exposure. The leaf aqueous leachate of T. vogelii showed high mosquitocidal activity against larvae of A. albopictus, with a LC50=1.18µg/mL. However, it had a remarkable acute toxicity also toward adults of the non-target arthropod D. magna, with a LC50=0.47µg/L and O. niloticus with a LC50=5.31µg/L. The present findings have important implications in the practical control of mosquito larvae in the aquatic ecosystem, as the medicinal plants studied are commonly available in large quantities. The extract could be used in stagnant water bodies for the control of mosquitoes acting as vector for many communicable diseases.

Insecticidal, fumigant, and repellent activities of sweet wormwood oil and its individual components against red imported fire ant workers (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

In total, 29 compounds from sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua L.) oil were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The five active components were D-camphor, linalool, cineole, α-terpineol, and L(-)-borneol. The effectiveness of A. annua oil, as well as d-camphor, linalool, cineole, α-terpineol, and L(-)-borneol, as fumigants, contact insecticides, and repellents, were tested on the red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren. The results indicated that A. annua oil has no significant topical toxicity; however, the spray contact test revealed that it has strong insecticidal activity and the inhibitory effect is stronger during closed exposure than during open exposure. In the fumigant test, cineole and D-camphor exhibited strong fumigant toxicity on minor and major S. invicta workers. They also caused 100% mortality at 5, 3, 2, and 1 mg/centrifuge tube but not at 0.5 mg/centrifuge tube. The mortality rates of linalool, α-terpineol, and L(-)-borneol exceeded 80% at 5, 3, and 2 mg/centrifuge tube. In the repellent test, cineole and d-camphor showed significant repellency at 100, 10, and 1 mg/kg. However, linalool, α-terpineol, and L(-)-borneol significantly facilitated digging at 10 and 1 mg/kg.