Special Issue for Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology PLANT-BORNE COMPOUNDS AS EFFECTIVE WEAPONS AGAINST MOSQUITO-BORNE DISEASES Guest Editor: Giovanni Benelli, University of Pisa, Italy Aims & Scope Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) represent a key threat for millions of people worldwide, since they act as vectors for important pathogens, including malaria, yellow fever, dengue, West Nile, and parasites, such as filariasis. In this scenario, vector control is a crucial prevention tool. Culicidae larvae are usually targeted using organophosphates and insect growth regulators. Indoors residual spraying and insecticide-treated bed nets are also employed to reduce transmission of malaria in tropical countries. However, these chemicals have strong negative effects on human health and/or the environment, and induce resistance in a number of mosquito species. On this basis, eco-friendly tools have been recently implemented to enhance control of mosquito vectors. Renewed interest has been devoted to the potential of Sterile Insect Technique for suppression of mosquito vectors, with special reference to the genus Anopheles. Furthermore, huge efforts have been carried out investigating the efficacy of plant-borne compounds against Culicidae. Many compounds have been reported as excellent toxics against mosquitoes, acting as adulticidal, larvicidal, ovicidal, oviposition deterrent, growth and/or reproduction inhibitors and/or adult repellents. However, much remains to know in this fast-growing research area, with special reference to chemical standardisation of mosquitocidal compounds of botanical origin, exploitation of plant-borne industrial by-products against mosquitoes, development of eco-friendly long-lasting mosquito repellents and mosquitocidal silver nanoparticles synthesized using plant extracts. In this Special Issue, I bring together a number of top-ranked international scientists to discuss the most relevant issues and update the advances about plant-borne eco-friendly control tools against mosquito vectors. Keywords: 1 Arthropod-borne diseases; Diptera Culicidae; Eco-friendly control tools; Essential oils; Mosquitocidal compounds; Long-lasting mosquito repellents; Nanoparticles; Oviposition deterrents. Subtopics: “Chemical characterization and standardization of plant-borne mosquitocidal compounds” “Industrial by-products of plant origin and their bioactivity against mosquitoes of medical importance” “Human-bait evaluation of long-lasting formulations of plant-borne mosquito repellents” “Field evaluation of oviposition deterrence induced by plant-borne compounds against Aedes mosquitoes” “Mosquitocidal activity of silver nanoparticles synthesized using plant extracts and fungi” Approximate Schedule: Manuscript submission deadline: March 30th 2015. Peer-Review Due: May 1st 2015. Revision Due: June 1st 2015. Notification of Acceptance by the Guest Editor: June 15th 2015. Final Manuscript Due: June 30th 2015. List of possible names and affiliations of contributing authors and titles of proposed articles: Article 1 Title: Mosquitocidal activity of silver nanoparticles synthesised using plant extracts Author: Marimuthu Govindarajan 1 Affiliation: 1 Unit of Vector Biology, Phytochemistry and Nanotechnology, Department of Zoology, Annamalai University, India E-mail: [email protected] 2 Article 2 Title: Harvesting mosquitocidal nanoparticles from botanicals and entomopathogenic fungi: a chance for sustainable management of mosquitoborne diseases? Authors: Kadarkarai Murugan 1, Pari Madhiyazhagan 1, Chellasamy Panneerselvam 1, Duraisamy Amerasan 1, Palanisamy Maheshkumar 1, Balamurugan Chandramohan 1, Devakumar Dinesh 1, Udayan Sureshkumar 1 Marcello Nicoletti 2, Giovanni Benelli 3, Wei Jiang 4 Affiliations: 1 Department of Zoology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India 2 Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy 3 Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Italy 4 State Key Laboratories for Agro-biotechnology and College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China E-mail: [email protected] Article 3 Title: Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Glycosmis pentaphylla (Rutaceae) plant leaf extracts against three major mosquito vectors Authors: Sengodan Karthi 1, Govindaraju Ramkumar 1, Ranganathan Muthusamy 1, Muthugounder S. Shivakumar 1 Affiliation: 1 Molecular Entomology Lab, Department of Biotechnology, Periyar University, Salem-636 011, Tamil Nadu, India E-mail: [email protected] Article 4 Title: Essential oils for the development of eco-friendly mosquito larvicides: a review Author: Roman Pavela 1 Affiliation: 1 Crop Research Institute, Prague, Czech Republic E-mail: [email protected] 3 Article 5 Title: Plant-based mosquito repellents: an ancient arsenal in the fight against mosquito-borne diseases Author: Kaliyaperumal Karunamoorthi 1 Affiliation: 1 Faculty of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Jazan University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia E-mail: [email protected] Article 6 Title: Oviposition deterrent activity of botanical derivatives against mosquito vectors Author: Essam Abdelsalam Shaalan 1 Affiliation: 1 Biological Sciences Department, College of Science, King Faisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia E-mail: [email protected] Article 7 Title: Structure-mosquitocidal activity relationships of phytochemicals and modes of action Authors: Pornpimol Rongnoparut 1, Rattanawadee Kotewong 1, Panida Duangkaew 2, Pisit Phouyfung 1 Affiliation: 1 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand 2 Faculty of Animal Sciences and Agricultural Technology, Silpakorn University, Phetchaburi, Thailand E-mail: [email protected] Article 8 4 Title: Compounds from the bark of Dracaena arborea (Agavaceae): metabolomic analysis and larvicidal activity against the invasive filariasis vector Aedes albopictus Authors: Biapa Nya Prosper Cabral 1, Riccardo Moretti 2, Maurizio Calvitti 2, Lamberto Tomassini 3, Francesca Marini 4, Marcello Nicoletti 3 Affiliations: 1 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon 2 ENEA, Rome, Italy 3 Department of Environmental Biology, University Sapienza of Rome, Italy 4 Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, University Sapienza of Rome, Italy E-mail: [email protected] Article 9 Title: Chemical characterisation and bioactivity of Lavandula dentata (Lamiaceae) essential oil against the arbovirus vector Aedes albopictus and the West Nile vector Culex pipiens Authors: Giovanni Benelli 1, Stefano Bedini 1, Guido Flamini 2, Francesca Cosci 1, Hind Bougherra 3, Barbara Conti 1 Affiliations: 1 Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Italy 2 Department of Pharmacy, University of Pisa, Italy 3 Laboratory of Organic Materials, Department of Process Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Bejaia, Algeria E-mail: [email protected] Article 10 Title: Predatory copepods and plant-mediated nanoparticles for the control of the dengue vector, Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae): towards an integrative approach Authors: Kadarkarai Murugan 1, Pari Madhiyazhagan 1, Chellasamy Panneerselvam 1, Palanisamy Maheshkumar 1, Jayapal Subramaniam 1, Balamurugan Chandramohan 1, Devakumar Dinesh 1, Udayan Sureshkumar 1, Jiang-Shiou Hwang 2, Marcello Nicoletti 3, Giovanni Benelli 4 5 Affiliations: 1 Department of Zoology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India 2 Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan 3 Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy 4 Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Italy E-mail: [email protected] 6