Athanassiou Christos G, Brabec Daniel, Olmstead Morgan, Kavallieratos Nickolas G, Oppert Brenda
Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, Phytokou Str., 38446 Nea Ionia, Greece.
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, 1515 College Ave., Manhattan, KS 66502, USA.
Genes (Basel). 2025 Mar 10;16(3):324. doi: 10.3390/genes16030324.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Phosphine resistance in insects involves a complex interplay of genetic and physiological factors, which are often poorly understood. Resistance to high concentrations of phosphine worldwide poses a formidable challenge for stored-product pest management and affects global food security. Understanding the genetic basis of phosphine resistance in the red flour beetle, , is urgent because of the species' status as a notorious insect pest of stored grains and their resistance to major classes of insecticides. In this study, we take advantage of as a model species for biological and genetic studies.
To tease apart genetic mutations and the differential expression of genes responding to phosphine intoxication, we set up 16 different exposure tests to compare the effects of phosphine dose, exposure time, and sampling time on gene expression in phosphine-susceptible and -resistant adults.
We examined the enrichment of gene ontology terms in genes that were differentially expressed and found that the data further distinguished differences in gene expression by insect strain, phosphine dose, exposure time, and recovery from phosphine exposure. The gene-encoding cytochrome P450 9e2 was expressed more in phosphine-resistant compared to phosphine-susceptible insects under all treatment conditions and was significantly higher in expression in resistant insects that were sampled after short or long phosphine exposures. Therefore, this gene may serve as a new phosphine resistance marker in and can further be utilized as a diagnostic tool for resistance detection.
These data are important to understand the complex molecular changes in insects that have reduced sensitivity to phosphine to develop new monitoring and resistance prevention strategies.
背景/目的：昆虫对磷化氢的抗性涉及遗传和生理因素的复杂相互作用，而人们对此往往了解甚少。全球范围内昆虫对高浓度磷化氢产生抗性，这给储粮害虫管理带来了巨大挑战，并影响全球粮食安全。鉴于赤拟谷盗作为储粮中臭名昭著的害虫及其对主要种类杀虫剂产生抗性的现状，迫切需要了解其对磷化氢抗性的遗传基础。在本研究中，我们利用赤拟谷盗作为生物和遗传研究的模式物种。
为了区分基因突变以及对磷化氢中毒作出反应的基因的差异表达，我们设置了16种不同的暴露试验，以比较磷化氢剂量、暴露时间和取样时间对磷化氢敏感和抗性赤拟谷盗成虫基因表达的影响。
我们研究了差异表达基因中基因本体术语的富集情况，发现这些数据进一步区分了不同昆虫品系、磷化氢剂量、暴露时间以及从磷化氢暴露中恢复后基因表达的差异。在所有处理条件下，编码细胞色素P450 9e2的基因在抗磷化氢的昆虫中比在敏感昆虫中表达更多，并且在短时间或长时间磷化氢暴露后取样的抗性昆虫中表达显著更高。因此，该基因可能作为赤拟谷盗新的磷化氢抗性标记，并可进一步用作抗性检测的诊断工具。
这些数据对于理解昆虫对磷化氢敏感性降低的复杂分子变化，以制定新的监测和抗性预防策略具有重要意义。
