Plant-derived compounds regulate formation of the insect juvenile hormone receptor complex.

Insect growth regulators (IGRs) are attractive pest control agents due to their high target specificity and relative safety to the environment. Recently, plants have been shown to synthesize IGRs that affect the insect juvenile hormone (JH) as a part of their defense mechanisms. Using a yeast two-hybrid system transformed with the Aedes aegypti JH receptor as a reporter system, we identified several JH agonists (JHAs) and antagonists (JHANs) causing retardation in the ovarian development of female Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, from plant essential oil compounds.