Effects of the infestation by Actinote thalia pyrrha (Fabricius) on the physiological indexes of Mikania micrantha leaves

Mikania micrantha is a dangerous exotic weed now found throughout Guangdong Province, China. Introduced by the Indonesian Oil Palm Institute, lepidopteran defoliator Actinote thalia pyrrha (Fabricius) is a potential biological control factor for M. micrantha. Changes in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), polyphenoldoxidase (PPO), the total phenolics content, and the capacity of scavenging 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydazyl (DPPH•) free radicals in M. micrantha leaves were analyzed after infestation by A. thalia pyrrha larvae. The results showed that a slight change of all the indexes in the damaged leaves appeared within 3 h. After four days of infestation by A. thalia pyrrha, SOD and POD activities in the damaged leaves were higher than those of the control. But CAT activity was lower than that of the control, indicating that the SOD and POD functions were impeded more than those of CAT. The SOD and POD activities reached their highest values after 48 h of infestation by A. thalia pyrrha and then decreased, whereas the highest activity of CAT occurred after 24 h and then decreased. PPO activity fluctuated greatly with its three peak values being 1.83, 1.92, and 2.17 times that of the control. The total phenolics content increased initially and then decreased after 72 h of infestation by A. thalia pyrrha. The capacity of scavenging DPPH• was significantly lower than that of the control (p<0.05). SOD activity positively correlated with CAT and POD activities for both damaged and normal leaves. However, the value of the correlation coefficient in the damaged leaves was higher than that in the normal leaves. The total phenolics content also showed a weak positive correlation with PPO activity. It is suggested that the protective response of M. micrantha to infestation by A. thalia pyrrha was short and limited, but resulted in a reduced function of the leaves, disturbed the metabolism in the protective enzyme system, and decreased the antioxidative capacity. M. micrantha was unable to resist the feeding stress by altering the content of the total phenolics.