The Efficiency of Acetylcysteine (Drug) As A Molluscicide.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Agriculture Harmful Animals Department.Plant Protection Research Institute, ARC. Dokki, Giza.Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

Mucus is very important for the protection of land snails. It is the second defense line after the shell. This study was conducted to test the effect of acetylcysteine (drug) against the mucus in the foot of a clover land snail, Monacha cartusiana (O.F. Müller 1774), under laboratory and field conditions. Snails were exposed to serial concentrations of the tested compound for seven days as bait. LC50 of the compound was calculated and the effect of ¼ LC50 was tested on Total Protein (TP) and Alkaline phosphatase (ALK). The histopathology of land snail foot was studied after treatment with ¼ LC50. The field performance of the compound was evaluated against M. cartusiana as poison bait 3.6% for 21 days in a clover field at Sumsta district, Beni- Suef Governorate. The laboratory results revealed that the LC50 was 2%, and the most effective concentration was 3.6% which gave 90 % mortality. Moreover, the compound caused high significant effect on TP and ALK with a severe increase in their biochemical parameters. Based on the histopathological effect on the foot, the compound caused focal necrosis in the epithelium and degeneration in the connective tissue. The field results indicated that the compound achieved a 95% reduction in the population of M. cartusiana compared with methomyl (the compound recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture), which gave an 88.0% population reduction in the snails' population. Therefore, acetylcysteine compound can be used as a safe molluscicide in agriculture fields, to reduce the number of pest snails to avoid environmental pollution and the long-term pest resistance to methomyl compound. 

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