Biochemical mechanisms of fumigant toxicity by ethyl formate towards Myzus persicae nymphs

Ethyl formate has been used for the control of insect pests by fumigation. However, there were not many reports to show its target site of fumigant toxicity on insect pests since its first use in the agricultural industry. In the present study, we showed the presumable target sites of ethyl formate fumigation in insect pests using Myzus persicae nymphs. After ethyl formate fumigation, the nymphs of this species were collected and the changes at the biochemical and molecular level were determined. The activity of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) was approximately two-fold higher after ethyl formate fumigation. In addition, the expression levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) decreased gradually with increasing ethyl formate concentration. These two findings suggested that COX and AChE might be the major target sites of ethyl formate fumigation. In addition to these results, the analysis of lipid content using MALDI-TOF MS/MS identified 9 phospholipids differently generated 2-fold higher in the ethyl formate-treated nymphs than that in the control nymphs, thereby leading to changes in cell membrane composition in M. persicae nymphs. Therefore, the ethyl formate fumigation caused lethal effects on M. persicae nymphs by changing COX activity, AChE gene expression, and phospholipid production.