Data from: Morin hydrate reduces fertility and survival, delays development, and weakens lipid reserves in Aedes aegypti

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is generally associated with arboviruses that
cause yellow fever, dengue, zika and chikungunya. The most efficient way
to control their populations is through application in breeding sites of
highly toxic insecticides that can also impact non-target organisms and
generate resistant populations. Therefore, the use of compounds is
desirable. Morin hydrate has broad pharmacological applications based on
its antioxidant potential, in addition to not having negative effects on
mammals. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate
the effects of morin hydrate on A. aegypti survival, pupation rate, egg
laying, triacylglycerol reserves, and expression of proteins related to
lipid metabolism 24 h after exposure of larvae. For this, rearing media
containing A. aegypti larvae with different concentrations of morin
hydrate were formulated to evaluate the lethal concentration. Calculation
of the expected lethal concentrations showed LC25 of 52.692 µM, LC40 of
111.121 µM, LC50 of 174.775 µM, LC75 of 575.083 µM, and LC90 of 1685.936
µM.  Twenty-four hours after treatment with morin hydrate,
surviving larvae were transferred to morin-free water with food, and their
pupation rate and fertility were evaluated. We observed that an increase
in the concentration of morin hydrate induced a dose-dependent reduction
in survival, doubled pupation time in survivors, and reduced the number of
eggs laid by treated females during the larval stage by approximately 30%
at concentrations exceeding 100µM. From this, the impact of 24 h on the
triacylglycerol (TAG) stock was evaluated, in addition to evaluating the
expression of proteins involved in lipid metabolism. Larvae 24h after
treatment with 100 µM morin showed a reduction in TAG reserves of
approximately 17%, while at 175 µM, there was a reduction of more than 33%
in stocks and at 500µM there was a reduction of 61%. Furthermore, the
lipolytic proteins TAGL1 and HSL were upregulated, while the lipogenic
proteins FAS1, DGAT1 and GPAT1 were downregulated. Insulin-like receptors
were also downregulated, unlike AKHr, which was also upregulated. These
data demonstrate that morin hydrate reduces the survival and fertility of
A. aegypti by affecting its lipid metabolism. Morin hydrate did not
exhibit toxicity toward non-target organisms, demonstrating interesting
potential for the control of mosquito populations.