title: Utilization of the human louse genome to study insecticide resistance and innate immune response.
abstract: Since sequencing the human body louse genome, substantial advances have occurred in the utilization of the information gathered from louse genomes and transcriptomes. Comparatively, the body louse genome contains far fewer genes involved in environmental response, such as xenobiotic detoxification and innate immune response. Additionally, the body louse maintains a primary bacterial endosymbiont, Candidatus Riesia pediculicola, and a number of bacterial pathogens that it vectors, which have genomes that are also reduced in size. Thus, human louse genomes offer unique information and tools for use in advancing our understanding of coevolution among vectors, endosymbionts and pathogens. In this review, we summarize the current literature on the extent of pediculicide resistance, the availability of new pediculicides and information establishing this organism as an efficient model to study how xenobiotic metabolism, which is involved in insecticide resistance, is induced and how insects modify their innate immune response upon bacterial challenge resulting in enhanced vector competence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: jclark@vasci.umass.edu.
authors.forename: J Marshall
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Environmental Sciences Program, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL 62026, USA.
authors.forename: Kyong Sup
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ju Hyeon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, South Korea.
authors.forename: Si Hyeock
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Barry R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Pittendrigh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D049750:Genome, Insect; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007305:Insecticide Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D007306:Insecticides / Q000633:toxicity; D010374:Pediculus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D011722:Pyrethrins / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D011722:Pyrethrins
keywords: Bacterial challenge; Body and head lice; Immune response; Pediculus; Resistance; Vector competence; kdr