Chitin synthesis inhibitors

Since diflubenzuron toxicity seems to be similar in both insects and crustaceans, extreme care must be taken when this compound and other chitin synthesis inhibitors are used for insect control in areas where aquatic crustaceans occur. Otherwise, ecological instability may result, with consequences... 

El-Gazzar, L.M., R.S. Patterson, and P.G. Koehler. 1988. Activity of chitin synthesis inhibitors on the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis Bouche. Jour. Agricul. Entomol. 5 117-120. 

Ho, C.M., T.R. Hsu, J.Y. Wu, and C.H. Wang. 1987. Effect of dimilin, a chitin synthesis inhibitor, on the growth and development of larvae of Aedes albopictus Skuse. Chinese Jour. Entomol. 7 131-141. 

Marx, J.L. 1977. Chitin synthesis inhibitors new class of insecticides. Science 197 1170-1172. 

Muzzarelli, R. 1986. Chitin synthesis inhibitors effects on insects and on nontarget organisms. CRC Crit. Rev. Environ. Control 16 141-146. 

Chitin Synthesis Inhibitors. These are insect growth regulators that prevent the formation of the insect chitinous exoskeleton and thus produce a critical biochemical lesion during hatching, ecdysis, or pupation (44). These complex biochemical and physiological processes are unique to arthropods therefore, the benzoyl phenyl ureas are highly specific insecticides (44). 

Insects exposed to diflubenzuron and related compounds are unable to form normal cuticle (skin) because their ability to synthesize it is lost. Thus, the cuticle becomes thin and brittle, and is unable to support the insect or to withstand molting, a process requiring the shedding of the old cuticle, as in metamorphosis. Diflubenzuron and other chitin synthesis inhibitors have extremely low mammalian toxicity and are used against termites. 

I. Hammann, W. Sirrenberg, Laboratory evaluation of SIR 8514, a new chitin synthesis inhibitor of the benzoylated urea class, Pflanzenschutz-Nachr. 33 (1) (1980) 1-34. 

Chitin synthesis inhibitor and so interferes with the formation of insect cuticle... 

Closely related larvicides CGA 19255 (6-azido-N-cyclopropyl-N -ethyl- -triazine-2,4-diamine) and CGA 72662 (N-cyclopropyl- -triazine-2,4,6-triamine) do not function as sterilants of adult house flies but they were reported active chitin synthesis inhibitors in the cockroach leg regenerate system (48). However, since the latter activity could not be confirmed in another chitin synthesis bioassay (46) it may be possible that all the larvicidal a-triazines have a common mode of action and that the differences in their sterilizing properties depend on the ease of their metabolism and deactivation. 

Leighton, T., Marks, E., and Leighton, F., Pesticides Insecticides and fungicides are chitin synthesis inhibitors, Science, 213,905,1981. 

Mode of action Chitin synthesis inhibitor Electron transport inhibitor Rapid excitation of nervous system by persistent activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors Auxin transport inhibitor... 

Elek, J.A. (1994) The response of Rhyzopertha dominica and Sitophilus oryzae to chitin synthesis inhibitors in stored grain. Ph.D. Thesis, Australian National University, Canberra. 

Some pesticides, such as the herbicides inhibiting synthesis of amino acids in plants, are extremely selective between plants and animals and very potent. The chitin synthesis inhibitors used as insecticides are also extremely selective, because only insects and crustaceans (and fungi) make chitin. The fungicides first described are also efficient and have a high degree of selectivity, but are likely to produce effects in animals and plants because they inhibit enzymes of great importance to many types of organisms. 

Hajjar, N.P. and Casida, J.E. 1978. Insecticidal benzoylphenyl ureas. Structure-activity relationships as chitin synthesis inhibitors. Science, 200, 1499-1500. 

Tripathi, A.K., Prajapati, V., Khanuja, S.P.S., and Kumar, S. 2002. Chitin synthesis inhibitors as insect-pest control agents. J. Med. Aromatic Plant Sci., 24,104M22. 

Rotenone is an alkaloid botanical pesticide isolated from plants (Denis sp. or Lonchocarpus sp.). It blocks mitochondrial electron transport. It is associated with dermatitis and mucous membrane irritation in humans and is very potent in fish. In humans, intoxication is rare but when present is directed toward the respiratory system. Rotenone is used as a topical ectoparasiticide. As mentioned in the text, it has been implicated as possibly having a role in Parkinson s disease. The newest and by far safest class of insecticides available today are the insect growth inhibitors, such as methoprene (PreCor ), and chitin synthesis inhibitors, such as lufenuron (Program ). 

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