Cholesterol oxidase interference on the emergence and viability of cotton boll weevil larvae

The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of the enzyme cholesterol oxidase (Coase) on emergence and viability of larvae of the cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis Boheman, 1843). A series of bioassays was performed with eggs and neonate larvae exposed to different enzyme concentrations in artificial diet. Larval survival was affected at all enzyme concentrations tested, and the six-day LD50 was 53 mug/mL (CI 95%: 43-59). Coase also interfered with hatching of larvae after eggs were floated for 15 min in Coase solution at different concentrations. Observations at the light and electronic microscopic level of midguts from larvae fed on artificial diet containing 53 mug/mL of Coase and collected at six days revealed highly vacuolated regions in the epithelial cells as well as partial degradation of the basal membrane and microvilli.