Purification of Colocasia esculenta lectin and determination of its anti-insect potential towards Bactrocera cucurbitae.

The present study reports the purification of a lectin from Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott corms and evaluation of its anti-insect potential towards Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquilett). The lectin was found to be specific towards N-acetyl-D-lactosamine (LacNac), a disaccharide and asialofetuin, a desialylated serum glycoprotein in hemagglutination inhibition assay. Asialofetuin was used as a ligand to purify Colocasia esculenta agglutinin (CEA) by affinity chromatography. The purity of CEA was ascertained by the presence of a single band in reducing SDS-PAGE at pH 8.3. The affinity purified CEA was employed in artificial diet bioassay of second instar larvae (64-72 hr old) of the B. cucurbitae at concentrations ranging between 10-160 microg ml(-1). The lectin significantly (p < 0.01) decreased the percent pupation and emergence with respect to control. Effect on various enzymes was studied by employing LC50 (51.6 microg ml(-1)) CEA in the artificial diet bioassay of second instar larvae. All the enzymes tested namely esterases, phosphatases (acid and alkaline), superoxide dismutases, catalase and glutathione-S-transferase showed a significant (p < 0.01, p < 0.05) increase in their enzyme and specific activities. These results showed that CEA affected normal growth and development and presented stress to the larvae, activating their detoxification and anti-oxidant systems. Thus, the lectin seems to be a useful candidate for the control measures of B. cucurbitae under the integrated pest management (IPM) system.