Dual mutations in the whitefly nicotinic acetylcholine receptor < i > β1 < /i > subunit confer target-site resistance to multiple neonicotinoid insecticides

by Cheng Yin, Andrias O. O ’Reilly, Shao-Nan Liu, Tian-Hua Du, Pei-Pan Gong, Cheng-Jia Zhang, Xue-Gao Wei, Jing Yang, Ming-Jiao Huang, Bu-Li Fu, Jin-Jin Liang, Hu Xue, Jin-Yu Hu, Yao Ji, Chao He, He Du, Chao Wang, Rong Zhang, Qi-Mei Tan, Han-Tang Lu, Wen Xie, Dong Chu, Xu-Guo Zhou, Ralf Nauen, Lian-You Gui, Chris Bass, Xin Yang, You-Jun Zhang

Neonicotinoid insecticides, which target insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), have been widely and intensively used to control the whitefly,Bemisia tabaci, a highly damaging, globally distributed, crop pest. This has inevitably led to the emergence of populations with resistance to neonicotinoids. However, to date, there have been no reports of target-site resistance involving mutation ofB.tabaci nAChR genes. Here we characterize the nAChR subunit gene family ofB.tabaci and identify dual mutations (A58T&R79E) in one of these genes (BT β1) that confer resistance to multiple neonicotinoids. TransgenicD.melanogaster, where the native nAChRD β1 was replaced withBT β1A58T&R79E, were significantly more resistant to neonicotinoids than flies whereD β1 were replaced with the wildtypeBT β1 sequence, demonstrating the causal role of the mutations in resistance. The two mutations identified in this study replace two amino acids that are highly conserved in>200 insect species. Three-dimensional modelling suggests a molecular mechanism for this resistance, whereby A58T forms a hydrogen bond with the R79E side chain, which positi...

Source: PLoS Genetics - February 20, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Cheng Yin Source Type: research