Mosquitoes cloak their legs to resist insecticides

Balabanidou, Vasileia, Kefi1, Mary, Aivaliotis, Michalis, Koidou, Venetia, Girotti, Juan R., Mijailovsky, Sergio J., Juárez, M. Patricia, Papadogiorgaki, Eva, Chalepakis, George, Kampouraki, Anastasia, Nikolaou, Christoforos, Ranson, Hilary ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2332-8247 and Vontas, John (2019) 'Mosquitoes cloak their legs to resist insecticides'. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, Vol 286, Issue 1907.

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Abstract

Malaria incidence has halved since the year 2000, with 80% of the reduction attributable to the use of insecticides. However, insecticide resistance is now widespread and is rapidly increasing in spectrum and intensity across Africa, and may be contributing to the increase of malaria incidence in 2018. The role of detoxification enzymes and target site mutations has been documented in the major malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, however, the emergence of striking resistant phenotypes, suggests the occurrence of additional mechanisms. By comparing legs, the most relevant insect tissue for insecticide uptake, we show that resistant mosquitoes largely remodel their leg cuticles via enhanced deposition of cuticular proteins and chitin, corroborating a leg-thickening phenotype. Moreover, we show that resistant female mosquitoes seal their leg cuticles with higher total and different relative
amounts of cuticular hydrocarbons, compared to susceptible ones. The
structural and functional alterations in Anopheles female mosquito legs are associated with a reduced uptake of insecticides, substantially contributing to the resistance phenotype.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 510 Mosquitoes QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 600 Insect control. Tick control WA Public Health > Preventive Medicine > WA 240 Disinfection. Disinfestation. Pesticides (including diseases caused by) WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 765 Prevention and control
Faculty: Department:	Biological Sciences > Vector Biology Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1091
Depositing User:	Stacy Murtagh
Date Deposited:	17 Jul 2019 11:49
Last Modified:	01 Nov 2019 16:40
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/11170

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