LAUSR

Target-protein-based pesticide screening has attracted wide-ranging attention on pesticide science. Pedunsaponin A (PA) is a compound isolated from the root of Pueraria peduncularis, and it has a strong toxic effect on Pomacea canaliculata. Previous studies found that Advlin (PcAdv) and neural Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome isoform X1(PcnWAS) are target proteins of PA when interacted with P. canaliculata. In this study, we modeled the two target proteins through I-Tasser and identified the pharmacophore of PA binding to the two target proteins by molecular docking. Further, through virtual screening, potassium alginate was found to strongly bind to the target proteins in theory. In-vivo bioassay showed similar to PA treatment, potassium alginate was able to induce typical poisoning sysmptoms on P. canaliculata, which were characterized by abnormal increase of excreta, weakening of climbing capacity, the loss of gill cilia, the decreasing of hemocyanin content, and it even cause death of P. canaliculata with the mortality rate of 13.33% under the concentrations of 100 mg/L. Furthermore, the treatment of potassium alginate also decreased gene expression level of PcAdv and PcnWAS. These findings indicate potassium alginate can affect the living state of P. canaliculata, and it is feasible to develop new molluscicides based on PcAdv and PcnWAS by virtual screening. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.