This study examined the plant derived monolignol dillapiol, a naturally occurring insecticide synergist. I initially compared dillapiol with the commercially-available piperonyl butoxide and showed similar synergistic activity of the two substances, combined with various natural insecticides, against the mosquito larvae (Aedes atropalpus). Subsequently, the activities of 19 synthetic dillapiol derivatives and analogues were assessed for synergism of the phototoxic activity of alpha-terthienyl towards A. atropalpus. While several promising new and patentable synthetic synergists were found, the naturally occurring lead molecule remained among the most active substances. The synergistic activity also was found to be predicted using the lipophilicity of the analogues, by Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship analysis (QSAR). Given the practical potential of dillapiol, the second part of the thesis concentrated mainly on environmental parameters affecting dillapiol production in two plants, Indian dill, Anethum graveolens and the Central American wild pepper, Piper aduncum. It was found that a higher nutrient availability affected positively the production of dillapiol in dill in a greenhouse experiment but negatively in wild accessions of Piper aduncum. Simulation of herbivory using methyl jasmonate did not succeed in increasing the concentration of dillapiol in dill. Piper aduncum is a good commercial source of dillapiol since it produces it in very high concentrations (4% d.w.) and can be easily propagated by vegetative means.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/4340 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Belzile, Anne-Sophie. |
| Contributors | Arnason, John T., |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 130 p. |
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