title: Are feeding preferences and insecticide resistance associated with the size of detoxifying enzyme families in insect herbivores?
abstract: The size of gene families associated with xenobiotic detoxification in insects may be associated with the complexity of their diets and their propensities to develop insecticide resistance. We test these hypotheses by collating the annotations of cytochrome P450, carboxyl/cholinesterase and glutathione S-transferase genes in 65 insect species with data on their host use and history of insecticide resistance. We find 2-4 fold variation across the species in the numbers of these genes and, in some orders, especially the Hymenoptera, there is a clear relationship between the numbers of genes and feeding preferences. However in other orders, in particular the Lepidoptera, no such relationship is apparent. The size of these three gene families also tend to correlate with insecticide resistance propensity but this may not be an independent effect because species with broader host ranges are more likely to be pests that are heavily sprayed with insecticides.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Clunies Ross St, (GPO Box 1700), Acton, ACT 2601, Australia; Bio21 Institute, School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Road, Parkville 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Rahul V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Rane
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Clunies Ross St, (GPO Box 1700), Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Tom K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Clunies Ross St, (GPO Box 1700), Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Clunies Ross St, (GPO Box 1700), Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Lars S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Jermiin
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Clunies Ross St, (GPO Box 1700), Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Karl Hj
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77006, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Clunies Ross St, (GPO Box 1700), Acton, ACT 2601, Australia. Electronic address: john.oakeshott@csiro.au.
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Oakeshott
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002802:Cholinesterases / Q000235:genetics; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000235:genetics; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology*; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000235:genetics; D060434:Herbivory / Q000502:physiology*; D008658:Inactivation, Metabolic / Q000235:genetics; D007313:Insecta / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D007305:Insecticide Resistance / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D002802:Cholinesterases