The cotton plant suffers from many pests and due to its economic importance, the use of efficient but ecologically friendly pesticides is highly desirable. The insecticide Sumi-Alpha with active compound Esfenvalerate is widely used for cotton treatment in Uzbekistan. This insecticide is considered as moderately hazardous for different organisms of ecosystems, while more collected data and relevant research is a necessity for judgement of their safety and/or potential risk. Therefore, a comparative analysis of cotton leaves was performed to study the protein profile changes upon treatment with this insecticide. Our data showed elevated accumulation of fructose bisphosphate aldolase and degradation of RuBisCo in the treated tissue. Besides, a protein belonging to P-loop containing nucleoside triphosphate hydrolases superfamily exerted lower accumulation. Our results indicate that the applied pyrethroid pesticide possibly can affect photosynthesis performance and cause accumulation of simple saccharides which in turn might contribute to enhanced colonisation of sucking insects. Further molecular research on Sumi-Alpha effects on cotton is necessary for its safer use in agricultural practice.

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Dianhydrogossypol (4,4 0 -dihydroxy-5,5 0 -diisopropyl-7,7 0 -dimethyl-bis(3H-naphtho [1,8-bc]furan-3-one)) was made by refluxing gossypol in m-xylene. Proton NMR spectroscopy was used to confirm that complete conversion was achieved over a time period of several hours. Single crystals of the compound were obtained by slow evaporation from dichloromethane. Diffraction studies indicate that this crystal form is tetragonal with a I4 1 /a space group and with cell dimensions of a = b = 33.8265(4) Å , c = 9.1497(2) Å , V = 10469.4(3) Å 3 at 100 K. The structure was solved by direct methods and was refined to an R1 value of 0.0415 on 6,408 independent reflections. Dianhydrogossypol exists as a pair of enantiomers within this structure. The two fused planar ring systems are oriented at a 117°angle to each other (i.e., close to perpendicular), and the isopropyl groups are oriented with the ternary carbon hydrogen atoms pointed inward toward the center of the molecule. Repeating groups of four molecules (of the same chirality) pack to form a helical structure that is supported by intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Each helix is surrounded by four neighboring helices that are composed of molecules of the opposite chirality. The helices form the walls of empty channels that are 5-6 Å wide. As has been found for some gossypol crystal forms, the open-channel structure of dianhydrogossypol might be useful for scavenging or carrying small molecules. Additional NMR studies confirm that dianhydrogossypol can be converted directly to gossypol lactol ethers in the presence of anhydrous alcohols.