title: Role of G-protein-coupled receptor-related genes in insecticide resistance of the mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus.
abstract: G-protein-coupled receptors regulate signal transduction pathways and play diverse and pivotal roles in the physiology of insects, however, the precise function of GPCRs in insecticide resistance remains unclear. Using quantitative RT-PCR and functional genomic methods, we, for the first time, explored the function of GPCRs and GPCR-related genes in insecticide resistance of mosquitoes, Culex quinquefasciatus. A comparison of the expression of 115 GPCR-related genes at a whole genome level between resistant and susceptible Culex mosquitoes identified one and three GPCR-related genes that were up-regulated in highly resistant Culex mosquito strains, HAmCq(G8) and MAmCq(G6), respectively. To characterize the function of these up-regulated GPCR-related genes in resistance, the up-regulated GPCR-related genes were knockdown in HAmCq(G8) and MAmCq(G6) using RNAi technique. Knockdown of these four GPCR-related genes not only decreased resistance of the mosquitoes to permethrin but also repressed the expression of four insecticide resistance-related P450 genes, suggesting the role of GPCR-related genes in resistance is involved in the regulation of resistance P450 gene expression. This results help in understanding of molecular regulation of resistance development in Cx. quinquefasciatus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn AL 36849, USA.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn AL 36849, USA.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn AL 36849, USA.
authors.forename: Nannan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003465:Culex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D049750:Genome, Insect; D007305:Insecticide Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D007306:Insecticides / Q000494:pharmacology; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System