Mode of action of the sesquiterpene lactone, tenulin, from Helenium amarum against herbivorous insects.

Tenulin [1], a sesquiterpene lactone from Helenuim amarum, is a potent antifeedant to the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis. At 3 mumol/g in artificial diets, 1 reduced growth and delayed larval development of O. nubilalis and the variegated cutworm Peridroma saucia larvae. An especially pronouned carry-over effect in O. nubilis was substantial reduction in fecundity of adult moths resulting from treated larvae. The LD50 (lethal dose for 50% mortality) of 1 by injection in the migratory grasshopper Melanoplus sanguinipes was 0.88 mumol/insect. Toxicity in M. sanguinipes was antagonized by co-administration of cysteine, suggesting that the cyclopentenone group of tenulin undergoes Michael addition of biological nucleophiles in vivo. This mechanism was partially confirmed by the finding that only tenulin analogues capable of acting as electrophic acceptors had significant antifeedant activity.