• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.138-144
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• 2016

Phenoloxidase (PO) is an oxidizing enzyme and plays crucial roles in insect immunity and cuticle sclerotization. High oxidizing activity of chlorine dioxide gives effective control activities against microbes and insect pests. These allowed us to assess any inhibitory activity of chlorine dioxide against PO with respect to insect immunity. PO activities of the Indeanmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella, was detected in both hemocytes and plasma. Upon bacterial challenge, PO activity was significantly increased especially in plasma. However, the immune challenge coupled with chlorine dioxide treatment did not enhance PO activity. When different chlorine dioxide concentrations were incubated with activated PO by immune challenge, they did not inhibit the activated PO. These results indicate that chlorine dioxide suppresses PO activity by inhibiting PO activation.