Development of a lateral flow test to detect metabolic resistance in Bemisia tabaci mediated by CYP6CM1, a cytochrome P450 with broad spectrum catalytic efficiency.

Cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) is a major sucking pest in many agricultural and horticultural cropping systems globally. The frequent use of insecticides of different mode of action classes resulted in populations resisting treatments used to keep numbers under economic damage thresholds. Recently it was shown that resistance to neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid is linked to the over-expression of CYP6CM1, a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase detoxifying imidacloprid and other neonicotinoid insecticides when recombinantly expressed in insect cells. However over-expression of CYP6CM1 is also known to confer cross-resistance to pymetrozine, an insecticide not belonging to the chemical class of neonicotinoids. In addition we were able to demonstrate by LC-MS/MS analysis the metabolisation of pyriproxyfen by recombinantly expressed CYP6CM1. Based on our results CYP6CM1 is one of the most versatile detoxification enzymes yet identified in a pest of agricultural importance, as it detoxifies a diverse range of chemical classes used to control whiteflies. Therefore we developed a field-diagnostic antibody-based lateral flow assay which detects CYP6CM1 protein at levels providing resistance to neonicotinoids and other insecticides. The ELISA based test kit can be used as a diagnostic tool to support resistance management strategies based on the alternation of different modes of action of insecticides.

Synthesis and SERCA activities of structurally simplified cyclopiazonic acid analogues.

The indole alkaloid cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) is one of the few known nanomolar inhibitors of sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca²âº-ATPase (SERCA) besides the anticancer drug thapsigargin and the antiplasmoidal terpenoid artemisinin. Due to its less complex structure CPA represents an attractive lead structure for the development of novel antimalarial drugs or for applications in the field of plant protection. We report here the first syntheses of structurally simplified CPA fragments and discuss their SERCA activities on the basis of published crystal structures of CPA-SERCA complexes.

Flupyradifurone: a brief profile of a new butenolide insecticide.

BACKGROUND: The development and commercialisation of new chemical classes of insecticides for efficient crop protection measures against destructive invertebrate pests is of utmost importance to overcome resistance issues and to secure sustainable crop yields. Flupyradifurone introduced here is the first representative of the novel butenolide class of insecticides active against various sucking pests and showing an excellent safety profile. RESULTS: The discovery of flupyradifurone was inspired by the butenolide scaffold in naturally occurring stemofoline. Flupyradifurone acts reversibly as an agonist on insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors but is structurally different from known agonists, as shown by chemical similarity analysis. It shows a fast action on a broad range of sucking pests, as demonstrated in laboratory bioassays, and exhibits excellent field efficacy on a number of crops with different application methods, including foliar, soil, seed treatment and drip irrigation. It is readily taken up by plants and translocated in the xylem, as demonstrated by phosphor imaging analysis. Flupyradifurone is active on resistant pests, including cotton whiteflies, and is not metabolised by recombinantly expressed CYP6CM1, a cytochrome P450 conferring metabolic resistance to neonicotinoids and pymetrozine. CONCLUSION: The novel butenolide insecticide flupyradifurone shows unique properties and will become a new tool for integrated pest management around the globe, as demonstrated by its insecticidal, ecotoxicological and safety profile.

Molecular and functional characterization of CYP6BQ23, a cytochrome P450 conferring resistance to pyrethroids in European populations of pollen beetle, Meligethes aeneus.

The pollen beetle (Meligethes aeneus F.) is widespread throughout much of Europe where it is a major coleopteran pest of oilseed rape (Brassica napus). The reliance on synthetic insecticides for control, particularly the pyrethroid class, has led to the development of populations with high levels of resistance. Resistance to pyrethroids is now widespread throughout Europe and is thought to be mediated by enhanced detoxification by cytochrome P450s and/or mutation of the pyrethroid target-site, the voltage-gated sodium channel. However, in the case of cytochrome P450 mediated detoxification, the specific enzyme(s) involved has (have) not yet been identified. In this study a degenerate PCR approach was used to identify ten partial P450 gene sequences from pollen beetle. Quantitative PCR was then used to examine the level of expression of these genes in a range of pollen beetle populations that showed differing levels of resistance to pyrethroids in bioassays. The study revealed a single P450 gene, CYP6BQ23, which is significantly and highly overexpressed (up to ∼900-fold) in adults and larvae of pyrethroid resistant strains compared to susceptible strains. CYP6BQ23 overexpression is significantly correlated with both the level of resistance and with the rate of deltamethrin metabolism in microsomal preparations of these populations. Functional recombinant expression of full length CYP6BQ23 along with cytochrome P450 reductase in an insect (Sf9) cell line showed that it is able to efficiently metabolise deltamethrin to 4-hydroxy deltamethrin. Furthermore we demonstrated by detection of 4-hydroxy tau-fluvalinate using ESI-TOF MS/MS that functionally expressed CYP6BQ23 also metabolizes tau-fluvalinate. A protein model was generated and subsequent docking simulations revealed the predicted substrate-binding mode of both deltamethrin and tau-fluvalinate to CYP6BQ23. Taken together these results strongly suggest that the overexpression of CYP6BQ23 is the primary mechanism conferring pyrethroid resistance in pollen beetle populations throughout much of Europe.

Pymetrozine is hydroxylated by CYP6CM1, a cytochrome P450 conferring neonicotinoid resistance in Bemisia tabaci.

BACKGROUND: Resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides such as imidacloprid in the cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is linked to its hydroxylation by constitutively overexpressed CYP6CM1, a cytochrome P450 enzyme. Here, an investigation was conducted to establish whether CYP6CM1 functionally expressed in Sf9 cells also detoxifies pymetrozine, a selective homopteran feeding blocker known to be cross-resistant to neonicotinoids in whiteflies. RESULTS: Incubation of pymetrozine with functionally expressed Bemisia CYP6CM1 and subsequent LC-MS/MS analysis revealed a rapid formation of two pymetrozine metabolites by hydroxylation of its heterocyclic 1,2,4-triazine ring system. Enzyme kinetics revealed a Km value of 5.9 ± 0.3 µM and a time-dependent depletion of pymetrozine. CONCLUSION: The known cross-resistance between imidacloprid, other neonicotinoid insecticides and pymetrozine in B. tabaci is most likely conferred by the very same detoxification mechanism, i.e. a monooxygenase-based hydroxylation mechanism linked to the overexpression of CYP6CM1. These insecticide chemistries should not be alternated in whitefly resistance management strategies.