Cytochrome P450s are known to be involved in detoxification of insecticides and plant toxins. Microarray and RNAi were employed to identify a single P450 responsible for majority of resistance detected in deltamethrin resistant PYR strain of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Nearly half of P450s identified in the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, are over expressed in the imidacloprid resistant strain. A majority of these P450s are induced by both plant toxins and insecticide in the midgut and fat body. The expression of P450s that metabolize plant toxins and insecticides in beetles are regulated by xenobiotic transcription factors including CncC. The pyrethroid resistance in the bed bug, Cimex lectularius, is also mediated by metabolic detoxification by P450s. Interestingly, the P450 genes in this insect are expressed in the epidermis and act as the first barrier for insecticide penetration into the body.

Molecular analysis of insecticide resistance in beetles and bed bugs

248th National Meeting (2014)

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