Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pest Aphicidal activity of selected Asteraceae essential oils and their effect on enzyme activities of the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) Pawel Czerniewicz ⁎ , Grzegorz Chrzanowski, Iwona Sprawka, Hubert Sytykiewicz Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Prusa 12, 08-110 Siedlce, Poland ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Essential oils Aphicidal activity Acetylcholinesterase Na + /K + -ATPase Glutathione S-transferase ABSTRACT The essential oils derived from Asteraceae plants were evaluated for their insecticidal activity towards Myzus persicae (Sulzer) and for their effects on the activity of selected enzymes within aphid tissues. The chemical composition of the essential oils was determined by GC–MS analysis. In laboratory bioassays, the studied oils not only displayed anti-settling activity, but also exerted a notable toxic effect on aphid females. Among the tested essential oils, those from Santolina chamaecyparissus and Achillea millefolium exhibited the strongest toxicities, followed by those from Tanacetum vulgare, Tagetes patula and Artemisia absinthium: the LC 50 values after 24 h treatment were 0.34%, 0.34%, 0.47%, 0.61% and 0.69%, respectively. The present results also showed that the essential oils inhibited the activity of the aphid acetylcholinesterase and Na + /K + -ATPase. The enzyme inhibi- tion varied depending on the applied oil and exposure time. Generally, the essential oils with stronger aphicidal activities also exhibited higher inhibitory effects. The activity of glutathione S-transferase in M. persicae was upregulated after treatment with essential oils, especially during the first two days following exposure. The obtained results suggest that essential oils from the studied Asteraceae plants can affect important biochemical processes within aphid tissues and may be considered as potent biopesticides in green peach aphid control. 1. Introduction The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) is an important pest of many cultivated plants worldwide. It feeds on more than 40 plant families, causing great losses of agricultural and horticultural crops. This pest damages crops both directly, through phloem feeding, and indirectly, by the transmission of plant viruses. Indeed, M. persicae is one of the most predominant aphid viral vector, shown to be able to transmit over 100 different phyto-viruses [1]. The control of the green peach aphid is achieved primarily through the use of different classes of insecticides, often with multiple appli- cations during the year [2]. However, the widespread usage of synthetic pesticides has many side effects, such as environmental pollution, pesticide residue in food, and the negative effects on non-target or- ganisms, including humans. Moreover, there is the serious problem of the resistance of M. persicae to many commercial insecticides [3]. Therefore, the development of eco-friendly and efficient alternative methods in aphid control are required. One of these alternatives may be the use of essential oils, which are often more selective, do not accu- mulate in the environment and show low mammalian toxicity [4]. Essential oils are a mixture of secondary plant metabolites com- posed mainly of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and their oxygenated derivatives. They are found abundantly in several aromatic plant fa- milies, among which those from Asteraceae have received considerable attention. It has been shown that essential oils and extracts obtained from these plants possess a broad spectrum of biological activities, in- cluding antibacterial, antifungal and insecticidal properties [4–6]. Es- sential oil extracted from Achillea millefolium acted as a repellent to Rhopalosiphum maidis [7]. Bailén et al. [8] demonstrated the antifeedant activity of Artemisia absinthium oil against Spodoptera littoralis, Rhopa- losiphum padi and M. persicae. The green peach aphid was also strongly repelled by allelochemicals extracted from Tanacetum vulgare [9]. Moreover, essential oils isolated from wormwood and tansy possessed acaricidal activity [10]. Recent studies have also indicated the potent insecticidal activity of Santolina chamaecyparissus oil against the Japa- nese termite and German cockroach [11,12]. Although essential oils possess multiple pest control properties their mode of action has not been completely elucidated. It should be emphasized that knowledge of the target sites, the physiological mode of action, and the doses of es- sential oils needed to kill insect pests are important for their effective and safe application in insect control. The present study reports on the chemical composition and biolo- gical activity of essential oils from selected Asteraceae plants, such as A. millefolium, A. absinthium, S. chamaecyparissus, Tagetes patula, and T. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pestbp.2018.01.010 Received 28 November 2017; Received in revised form 13 January 2018; Accepted 19 January 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: pawel.czerniewicz@uph.edu.pl (P. Czerniewicz). Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 0048-3575/ © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Czerniewicz, P., Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pestbp.2018.01.010