MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION, PHYTOCHEMICAL AND DOCKING STUDIES OF MOSQUITO REPELLENT COMPOUNDS IN OCIMUMBASILICUM LINN.VAR. PILOSUM (WILLD.) - BENTH.

Abstract

Many species of Ocimum reported to exhibit insecticidal and insect repellent properties. In the present investigation, molecular characterization of Ocimum basilicum Linn. var. pilosum (willd)- Benth was carried out with EST SSR markers and   efficiently  demarcated  the O.basilicum Linn. var. pilosum (willd)- Benth from other Ocimum varieties.  The leaf extract  of O.basilicum Linn. var. pilosum (willd)- Benth was analyzed by GC-MS and 15 compounds were identified. Compounds which are structurally similar to the DEET were docked with Schrodinger mastero software. n-Hexa decanoic acid  and , 4H-1-Benzopyran-4-One,5-Hydroxy-6,7-Dimethoxy-2-(4-Methoxyphenyl) were shown good docking scores with mosquito odorant binding protein 3N7H. N-Hexa decanoic acid present in O.basilicum Linn. var. pilosum (willd)- Benth found to be an ideal candidate for development of another potential mosquito repellent.