title: Acetylcholinesterase. Two types of modifications confer resistance to insecticide.
abstract: Quantitative and qualitative changes in acetylcholinesterase confer resistance to insecticides. We have constructed several Drosophila melanogaster strains producing various amounts of enzyme by P-mediated transformation. Toxicological analysis of these strains demonstrates that resistance to organophosphorus insecticides is correlated with the amount of acetylcholinesterase in the central nervous system. Resistance may also be qualitatively determined. Comparison of the Drosophila acetylcholinesterase gene between a resistant strain caught in the wild and a wild type susceptible strain only revealed one nucleotide transition resulting in the replacement of a phenylalanine by a tyrosine. Flies mutant for acetylcholinesterase and rescued with a minigene mutagenized for this same transition produced an altered enzyme which renders flies resistant to pesticides.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche d'Antibes, Laboratoire de Biologie des Invertébrés, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bride
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Karch
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D015698:Genomic Library; D007305:Insecticide Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D007306:Insecticides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007700:Kinetics; D008294:Malathion / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009420:Nervous System / Q000201:enzymology; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D013569:Synapses / Q000201:enzymology; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase; D008294:Malathion