Ramnolipid: a natural repellent agaisnt Aedes aegypti

• Grant number: 16/06090-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: May 01, 2017
• End date: October 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Agreement: FINEP - PIPE/PAPPE Grant
• Principal Investigator: Bruno de Arruda Carillo
• Grantee: Bruno de Arruda Carillo
• Company: DC Química, Representação e Comércio de Produtos Químicos Ltda
• Associated researchers: Igor Tadeu Lazzarotto Bresolin ; José Gregório Cabrera Gomez ; Margareth de Lara Capurro-Guimarães
• Associated scholarship(s): 17/11907-8 - Purification of Rhamnolipid biossurfactant by precipitation aiming applications in repellents against Aedes aegypti, BP.IC

Abstract

Countless people worldwide are infected by dengue, chikungunya and zika virus daily, and all these diseases are transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, which has caused thousands of deaths. In addition, there is growing concern about the relationship between zika virus and cases of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. A conventional strategies for the control of arthropods involves the use of repellants and most commonly used is diethyltoluamide (DEET). However, this substance is not harmless to humans, and severe neurologic manifestations have been described and their toxicity to the environment is not sufficiently documented. Also, they have been described species of mosquitoes resistant to DEET. Faced with these difficulties, it opens the way for developing new repellents that overcome these limitations. Rhamnolipids (RLs) were effective acting as biopesticides against aphids, Rhyzopertha dominica and recently against Aedes aegypti. The rhamnolipids also have repellency activity against Aedes aegypti, and this activity increases as the concentration of rhamnolipids. Studies have demonstrated that the application of 1g / L rhamnolipids for 40 minutes was able to prevent mosquitoes 25 were able to land in the tested mice, and odor ramnolipídeo is probably responsible for this repulsion. In this context, rhamnolipids can be a potential replacement for repellents used in population control of Aedes aegypti, with the advantage of being less harmful to the environment and to human health. (AU)