ABSTRACT
Phosphine is a small redox-active gas that is used to protect global grain reserves, which are threatened by the emergence of phosphine resistance in pest insects. We find that polymorphisms responsible for genetic resistance cluster around the redox-active catalytic disulfide or the dimerization interface of dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (DLD) in insects (Rhyzopertha dominica and Tribolium castaneum) and nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans). DLD is a core metabolic enzyme representing a new class of resistance factor for a redox-active metabolic toxin. It participates in four key steps of core metabolism, and metabolite profiles indicate that phosphine exposure in mutant and wild-type animals affects these steps differently. Mutation of DLD in C. elegans increases arsenite sensitivity. This specific vulnerability may be exploited to control phosphine-resistant insects and safeguard food security.
Subject(s)
Caenorhabditis elegans/enzymology , Coleoptera/enzymology , Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase/genetics , Insecticide Resistance/genetics , Insecticides , Phosphines , Tribolium/enzymology , Animals , Arsenicals/pharmacology , Arsenites/pharmacology , Caenorhabditis elegans/drug effects , Caenorhabditis elegans/genetics , Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolism , Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/chemistry , Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/genetics , Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/metabolism , Catalytic Domain , Coleoptera/drug effects , Coleoptera/genetics , Coleoptera/metabolism , Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase/chemistry , Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase/metabolism , Insect Proteins/chemistry , Insect Proteins/genetics , Insect Proteins/metabolism , Insecticides/pharmacology , Metabolic Networks and Pathways , Molecular Sequence Data , Mutation , Oxidation-Reduction , Pesticides , Phosphines/pharmacology , Polymorphism, Genetic , Protein Multimerization , Tribolium/drug effects , Tribolium/genetics , Tribolium/metabolismABSTRACT
The lesser grain borer Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) is one of the most destructive insect pests of stored grain. This pest has been controlled successfully by fumigation with phosphine for the last several decades, though strong resistance to phosphine in many countries has raised concern about the long term usefulness of this control method. Previous genetic analysis of strongly resistant (SR) R. dominica from three widely geographically dispersed regions of Australia, Queensland (SR(QLD)), New South Wales (SR(NSW)) and South Australia (SR(SA)), revealed a resistance allele in the rph1 gene in all three strains. The present study confirms that the rph1 gene contributes to resistance in a fourth strongly resistant strain, SR2(QLD), also from Queensland. The previously described rph2 gene, which interacts synergistically with rph1 gene, confers strong resistance on SR(QLD) and SR(NSW). We now provide strong circumstantial evidence that weak alleles of rph2, together with rph1, contribute to the strong resistance phenotypes of SR(SA) and SR2(QLD). To test the notion that rph1 and rph2 are solely responsible for the strong resistance phenotype of all resistant R. dominica, we created a strain derived by hybridising the four strongly resistant lines. Following repeated selection for survival at extreme rates of phosphine exposure, we found only slightly enhanced resistance. This suggests that a single sequence of genetic changes was responsible for the development of resistance in these insects.
Subject(s)
Coleoptera/genetics , Insect Proteins/genetics , Insecticide Resistance/genetics , Phosphines/toxicity , Alleles , Animals , Coleoptera/classification , Crosses, Genetic , Female , Hybrid Vigor/genetics , Hybridization, Genetic , Insect Control/methods , Insecticides/toxicity , Male , New South Wales , Queensland , South Australia , Species SpecificityABSTRACT
Phosphine is the only economically viable fumigant for routine control of insect pests of stored food products, but its continued use is now threatened by the world-wide emergence of high-level resistance in key pest species. Phosphine has a unique mode of action relative to well-characterised contact pesticides. Similarly, the selective pressures that lead to resistance against field sprays differ dramatically from those encountered during fumigation. The consequences of these differences have not been investigated adequately. We determine the genetic basis of phosphine resistance in Rhyzopertha dominica strains collected from New South Wales and South Australia and compare this with resistance in a previously characterised strain from Queensland. The resistance levels range from 225 and 100 times the baseline response of a sensitive reference strain. Moreover, molecular and phenotypic data indicate that high-level resistance was derived independently in each of the three widely separated geographical regions. Despite the independent origins, resistance was due to two interacting genes in each instance. Furthermore, complementation analysis reveals that all three strains contain an incompletely recessive resistance allele of the autosomal rph1 resistance gene. This is particularly noteworthy as a resistance allele at rph1 was previously proposed to be a necessary first step in the evolution of high-level resistance. Despite the capacity of phosphine to disrupt a wide range of enzymes and biological processes, it is remarkable that the initial step in the selection of resistance is so similar in isolated outbreaks.
