Effect of salivary CYP4EM1 and CYP4EM2 gene silencing on the life span of Chagas disease vector Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera, Reduviidae) exposed to sublethal dose of deltamethrin.

Control of Chagas disease in endemic countries is primarily accomplished through insecticide spraying for triatomine vectors. In this context, pyrethroids are the first-choice insecticide, and the evolution of insect resistance to these insecticides may represent an important barrier to triatomine control. In insects, cytochrome P450s are enzymes involved in the metabolism of xenobiotics and endogenous chemicals that are encoded by genes divided into different families. In this work, we evaluated the role of three Rhodnius prolixus CYP4EM subfamily genes during blood meal and after deltamethrin exposure. CYP4 gene members were expressed in different insect organs (integument, salivary glands (SGs), midgut, fat body and malpighian tubules) at distinct transcriptional levels. CYP4EM1 gene was highly expressed in the SG and was clearly modulated after insect blood meal. Injection of CYP4EM1dsRNA promoted significant reduction in mRNA levels of both CYP4EM1 and CYP4EM2 genes and induced deleterious effects in R. prolixus nymphs subsequently exposed to sublethal doses of deltamethrin (3.4 or 3.8 ng/nymph treated). The higher dose reduced the survival over time and increased susceptibility of R. prolixus nymphs to deltamethrin. A better understanding of this mechanism can help in developing of more efficient strategies to reduce Trypanosoma cruzi vector transmission in Americas.

Repellency and Larvicidal Activity of Essential oils from Xylopia laevigata, Xylopia frutescens, Lippia pedunculosa, and Their Individual Compounds against Aedes aegypti Linnaeus.

In order to find new alternatives for vector control and personal protection, we evaluated the larvicidal and repellent activity of essentials oils from plants found in the Northeast of Brazil against Aedes aegypti Linnaeus mosquitoes. The plants tested include Xylopia laevigata, Xylopia frutescens, and Lippia pedunculosa and their major compounds, piperitenone oxide, and (R)-limonene. The essential oil of L. pedunculosa and its major volatile compounds were shown to be toxic for Ae. aegypti larvae with a LC50 lower than 60 ppm. The essential oil of plants from the Xylopia genus, on the other hand, showed no activity against Ae. aegypti, proving to be toxic to mosquito larvae only when concentrations were higher than 1000 ppm. All plants tested provided some degree of protection against mosquitoes landing, but only the essential oil of L. pedunculosa and the volatile compound piperitenone oxide suppressed 100% of mosquitoes landing on human skin, in concentrations lower than 1%. Among the plants studied, the essential oil of L. pedunculosa and its volatiles compounds have shown the potential for the development of safe alternative for mosquito larvae control and protection against Ae. aegypti mosquito bites.

Characterization of the aroma profile of Madeira wine by sorptive extraction techniques.

The characterization of the aroma profile of 33 samples of Madeira wine from five monovarieties (Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, Malvasia and Tinta Negra Mole) having different type and categories is presented, using solid phase microextraction and stir bar sorptive extraction techniques (SPME and SBSE) followed by capillary gas chromatography and mass spectrometry detection (GC-MS). Headspace SPME/GC-MS provided effectiveness to identify the major constituents of the aroma profile of Madeira wine, where no remarkable differences occur among the samples studied. The volatile compounds are mainly constituted by ethyl octanoate (11.3-256.9µgL-1), ethyl decanoate (21.5-210.5µgL-1), ethyl decenoate (0.1-112.8µgL-1), diethyl succinate (0.9-65.6µgL-1), ethyl dodecanoate (1.2-6.5µgL-1), ethyl nonanoate (0.6-5.2µgL-1), ethyl hexanoate (0.2-3.7µgL-1) and isoamyl octanoate (0-2.2µgL-1). C13 norisoprenoids such as vitispirane (0.9-7.0µgL-1) and 1,1,6-trimethyl 1,2-dihydro naphthalene (0.7-12.5µgL-1), as well as phenyl ethanol (0-8.1µgL-1), were also found in Madeira wine samples. The powerful capabilities of SBSE followed thermal desorption and GC-MS analysis allowed higher ability for profiling traces and ultra traces of compounds in Madeira wine samples, including esters (80.7-89.7%), carboxylic acids (1.6-4.2%), alcohols (3.5-8.2%), aldehydes (0.9-3.7%), pyrans (0.2-1.7%), lactones (<3%), monoterpenes (0.1-1.4%), sesquiterpenes (0.1-0.8%) and C13 norisoprenoids (1.7-6.5%), which some of them play a remarkable impact on the aroma complexity. C13 norisoprenoids in particular, seem to play an important role on Madeira wine bouquet since presenting very low sensorial threshold limits. Excellent correlation between Madeira wine ageing and the abundance of cis-oak lactone was attained showing to be an important chemical descriptor to characterize reserves and Vintages as well as a contributor to wine flavour. The differentiation between reserves, dry/medium dry and sweet/medium sweet young wines could be well established by means of chemometric analysis, using particular aroma compounds such as diethyl succinate, cis-oak lactone and ethyl octanoate as discriminating variables.

Composition of volatiles of banana cultivars from Madeira Island.

The composition of the volatiles of banana fruit from various cultivars grown on Madeira Island has been determined. Using GC-MS, the volatiles were shown to be complex mixtures of several classes of components, mainly esters, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones and acids. The average contents of the total volatiles from cultivars "Dwarf Cavendish", "Giant Cavendish", "Robusta" and "Williams" were 93.0, 116.5, 157.3 and 157.0 mg/kg, respectively. The ester and alcoholic fractions appear to play a decisive role in the organoleptic characteristics of banana fruit, presenting a substantial content ranging from 57.2 to 89.8 mg/ kg and 19.0 to 47.7 mg/kg, respectively, in all cultivars from Madeira Island studied. 3-Methyl butyl butanoate ester was the major constituent.