Benzaldehyde as an insecticidal, antimicrobial, and antioxidant compound produced by Photorhabdus temperata M1021

The Photorhabdus temperata M1021 secretes toxic compounds that kill their insect hosts by arresting immune responses. Present study was aimed to purify the insecticidal and antimicrobial compound(s) from the culture extract of P. temperata M1021 through bioassay guided fractionation. An ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract of the P. temperata M1021 exhibited 100% mortality in Galleria mellonella larvae within 72 h. In addition, EtOAc extract and bioactive compound 1 purified form the extract through to column chromatography, showed phenol oxidase inhibition up to 60% and 80% respectively. The analysis of ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra revealed the identity of pure compound as “benzaldehyde”. The benzaldehyde showed insecticidal activity against G. mellonella in a dose-dependent manner and 100% insect mortality was observed at 108 h after injection of 8 mM benzaldehyde. In a PO inhibition assay, 4, 6, and 8 mM concentrations of benzaldehyde were found to inhibit PO activity about 15%, 42%, and 80% respectively. In addition, nodule formation was significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited by 4, 6, and 8 mM of benzaldehyde as compare to control. Moreover, benzaldehyde was found to have great antioxidant activity and maximum antioxidant activity was 52.9% at 8 mM benzaldehyde as compare to control. Antimicrobial activity was assessed by MIC values ranged from 6 mM 10 mM for bacterial strains and 8 mM to 10 mM for fungal strains. The results suggest that benzaldehyde could be applicable for developing novel insecticide for agriculture use.