Discovery of Pentafluorobenzene Insecticide Candidate Targeting Novel Mechanisms: Inhibition of Pest Cuticular Proteins

This study investigated the discovery of novel insecticides targeting insect cuticular proteins (CPs) to address the growing problem of pest resistance. The focus of this study is the development of a new series of compounds based on pentafluorophenyl groups, synthesized using an active substructure-based strategy. This strategy combines molecular fragments that exhibit high insecticidal activity to enhance the insecticidal effect and reduce environmental toxicity. Armigeres subalbatus was selected as a model organism to assess the insecticidal activity of these novel compounds. The results showed that some compounds significantly inhibited the synthesis of insect CPs, affecting the formation of the insect exoskeleton, and ultimately leading to insect death. Further transcriptomic analysis and molecular docking experiments confirmed that these compounds exert their insecticidal effects by interfering with CPs synthesis and function. Environmental assessment revealed that these new compounds had` low toxicity to non-target organisms, indicating good environmental compatibility. Overall, this study proposes an innovative insecticidal mechanism by targeting insect CPs, overcoming the issue of resistance associated with traditional insecticides and showing high potential for application.