Plant essential oils have been reported to show repellent, insecticidal and growth-reducing effect on many insect herbivores. Recently, it has been reported that plants synthesize secondary metabolites regulating insect juvenile hormone (JH) receptor complex as a part of their defense mechanisms. We tested 180 plant essential oil compounds using a yeast two-hybrid system transformed with the Aedes aegypti JH receptor as a reporter system. Among them, we identified 17 compounds that showing high JH agonist (JHA) or antagonist (JHAN) activities. They were grouped into 4 groups by their structural similarity and their insecticidal activity was tested against larvae of Aedes albopictus, Plutella xylostella, Plodia interpunctella and Laodelphax striatellus. These results could provide insights on the plant-insect coevolution and may be useful for the development of insect specific and safe pesticides.

• Dong Hwan Park(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Jae Young Choi(Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University)
• Seok-Hee Lee(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Ying Fang(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Jong Hoon Kim(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Min Gu Park(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Ra Mi Woo(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Bo Ram Lee(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Woo Jin Kim(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Yeon Ho Je(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)