Effect of tiliamosine, a bis, benzylisoquinoline alkaloid isolated from Tiliacora acuminata (Lam.) Hook. f. & Thom on the immature stages of filarial mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus say (Diptera: Culicidae)

The present study was aimed to check the mosquitocidal activity of tiliamosine isolated from Tiliacora acuminata (Lam.) Hook. f. & Thom against immature stages of Culex quinquefasciatus. Eggs and larvae of Cx. quinquefasciatus were exposed to different concentrations of tiliamosine - 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 ppm - prepared using DMSO. The compound tiliamosine showed good larvicidal activity with LC50 and LC90 values of 1.13 and 2.85 ppm respectively, against third-instar larvae of Cx. quinquefasciatus at 24 h. In control, the larvae exhibited normal movement. Tiliamosine exhibited 91% ovicidal activity at 2.0 ppm concentration after 120 h post-treatment. Lowest concentration of tiliamosine (0.5 ppm) showed 19% egg mortality. Histopathology study of the compound-treated larvae showed serious damage on the larval midgut cells. The treated larvae showed restless movement which was different from that of the control larvae. The larvae exhibited malformation in development. The compound tiliamosine was harmless to non-target organisms P. reticulata and Dragon fly nymph at tested concentrations. The compound was highly active and inhibited AChE in a concentration-dependent manner. Computational analysis of the tiliamosine had strong interaction with AChE1 of Cx. quinquefasciatus. This report clearly suggests that the isolated compound can be used as an insecticide to control mosquito population and thus prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases.