Insecticide Resistance:
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We believe that synthetic chemical and biological insecticides will be an integral part of the management of pest insect populations in agriculture and public health for the foreseeable future. The development of insecticide resistance due to overuse, misuse, and/or natural selection, however, is limiting our ability effectively control some insect populations. |
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Another emphasis of this laboratory is the identification and characterization of insecticide detoxification enzymes and insecticide target proteins, and their genes. Our goal is to use our understanding of insecticide resistance mechanisms to prevent or reduce the incidence of insecticide resistance. One current focus is on the role that esterase(s) and glutathione S-transferase(s) (GST) play in the dextoxification of pyrethroid insecticides such as permethrin (Figure left) in mosquito. |
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Another focus is understanding how mosquitoes become resistant to methoprene. Methoprene is a “green” insecticide that mimics the structure and function of JH (Figure right). |
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Another goal of this laboratory is the development of quantitative and high throughput assays for the rapid detection of insecticide resistance. In this regard, we have developed a number of pyrethroid-like fluorescent substrates (Figure below) that we hope will be useful in field-applicable detection of pyrethroid resistance. |
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