Single and Combined Mutations of Acetylcholinesterase Gene Giving Resistance to Pirimiphos-Methyl in Musca domestica Slaughterhouse Populations

Abstract

The house fly Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae) is a worldwide medical and veterinary pest, causing great economic losses. Organophosphate insecticides have been widely used to control house fly populations. The main objectives of the present study were to evaluate the resistance levels of M. domestica slaughterhouse populations, collected from Riyadh, Jeddah, and Taif, against the organophosphate insecticide pirimiphos-methyl and investigate the genetic mutations of the Ace gene associated with pirimiphos-methyl resistance. The obtained data showed that there were significant differences among pirimiphos-methyl LC50 values of the studied populations, where the highest LC50 was recorded for the Riyadh population (8.44 mM), followed by Jeddah and Taif populations (2.45 mM and 1.63 mM, respectively). Seven nonsynonymous SNPs were detected in the studied house flies. The Ile239Val and Glu243Lys mutations are reported for the first time, whereas Val260Leu, Ala316Ser, Gly342Ala, Gly342Val, and Phe407Tyr were previously reported in M. domestica field populations from other countries. Considering three mutations associated with insecticide resistance, at amino acid positions 260, 342, and 407 of acetylcholinesterase polypeptide, 17 combinations were recovered in this study. Three out of these seventeen combinations were frequently found both worldwide and in the three Saudi house fly field populations, as well as their pirimiphos-methyl-surviving flies. Overall, the single and combined Ace mutations are apparently associated with pirimiphos-methyl resistance, and the obtained data can be useful in managing house fly field populations in Saudi Arabia.

Molecular analysis of acetylcholinesterase gene in field-collected populations of Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) in Northwestern Iran

“…In Musca domestica , only one ACE, called ACE2, encodes the AChE enzyme and is the molecular basis of insecticide resistance due to the insensitive AChE enzyme ( Kozaki et al 2001b , Walsh et al 2001 , Ffrench-Constant et al 2004 , Guo et al 2017 ). Point mutations in the gene encoding the enzyme AChE lead to the production of a modified enzyme, which is the primary mechanism of resistance to pirimiphos-methyl,azinphos-methyl in M. domestica and some other insects, including green bugs and potato Colorado beetle ( Zhang et al 1999 , Alzabib et al 2023 ). Amino acid substitutions in the AChEprotein, V260L, G342A/V, F407Y, and G445A are linked with the resistance to OP insecticides in the housefly, based on a comparison between ACE gene in resistance and susceptible strains of M. domestica ( Walsh et al 2001 ).…”