Mechanisms of Resistance to Acaricides

Effect of Eucalyptus globulus and Ferula assafoetida essential oils and their nanoformulations on the life table parameters of Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae)

One of the most damaging pests of agricultural crops across the globe is the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch. A wide variety of arthropods and plant pathogens can be controlled by essential oils, which are secondary metabolites produced by plants. It is possible to enhance the stability as well as the anti-pest efficiency of plant essential oils by encapsulation. Water distillation was used to extract the essential oils from Eucalyptus globulus and Ferula assafoetida. The chitosan nanoparticles were used to load both essential oils into nanoformulations. Studies were conducted on T. urticae life table characteristics under experimental circumstances to determine the sublethal impacts of essential oils and their nanoformulations. Intrinsic growth rate (r) for population exposed to E. globulus, F. assafoetida essential oils, their nanoformulations and the control were 0.1, 0.069, 0.051, 0.018 and 0.21 per day, respectively. F. assafoetida and E. globulus nanoformulations resulted the lowest fecundity compared to the other treatments. According the result of the lethal and sublethal effects of purified essential oils and nanoformulations of F. assafoetida and E. globulus, they would be recommended for controlling the two-spotted spider mites, T. urticae.

A glutamate-gated chloride channel as the mite-specific target-site of dicofol and other diphenylcarbinol acaricides

Dicofol has been widely used to control phytophagous mites. Although dicofol is chemically related to DDT, its mode of action has remained elusive. Here, we mapped dicofol resistance in the spider mite Tetranychus urticae to two genomic regions. Each region harbored a glutamate-gated chloride channel (GluCl) gene that contained a mutation-G314D or G326E-known to confer resistance against the unrelated acaricide abamectin. Using electrophysiology assays we showed that dicofol and other diphenylcarbinol acaricides-bromopropylate and chlorobenzilate-induce persistent currents in Xenopus oocytes expressing wild-type T. urticae GluCl3 receptors and potentiate glutamate responses. In contrast, the G326E substitution abolished the agonistic activity of all three compounds. Assays with the wild-type Drosophila GluClα revealed that this receptor was unresponsive to dicofol. Homology modeling combined with ligand-docking confirmed the specificity of electrophysiology assays. Altogether, this work elucidates the mode of action of diphenylcarbinols as mite-specific agonists of GluCl.

Resistance status of the carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus and the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae to selected acaricides on strawberries

The carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval) and the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, are serious pests of strawberries and many other horticultural crops. Control of these pests has been heavily dependent upon chemical acaricides. Objectives of this study were to determine the resistance status of these two pest species to commonly used acaricides on strawberries in a year-round intensive horticultural production region. LC90 of abamectin for adult carmine spider mites was 4% whereas that for adult twospotted spider mites was 24% of the top label rate. LC90s of spiromesifen, etoxazole, hexythiazox and bifenazate were 0.5%, 0.5%, 1.4% and 83% of their respective highest label rates for carmine spider mite eggs, 0.7%, 2.7%, 12.1% and 347% of their respective highest label rates for the nymphs. LC90s of spiromesifen, etoxazole, hexythiazox and bifenazate were 4.6%, 11.1%, 310% and 62% of their respective highest label rates for twospotted spider mite eggs, 3%, 13%, 432,214% and 15% of their respective highest label rates for the nymphs. Our results suggest that T. cinnabarinus have developed resistance to bifenazate and that the T. urticae have developed resistance to hexythiazox. These results strongly emphasize the need to develop resistance management strategies in the region.

Efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae in controlling the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae on common bean in screenhouse and field experiments

The efficacy of aqueous and emulsifiable formulations of the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae isolate ICIPE78 was evaluated on the population density of Tetranychus urticae infesting common bean plants under screenhouse and field conditions. Synthetic acaricide abamectin was included as a check. Bean plants were artificially infested with T. urticae and allowed to multiply. Three treatments were applied in the screenhouse and 1 treatment in field trials. Mite density was recorded 2 d before spraying and weekly postspraying. The number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, and the dry weight of seeds per plant were recorded only in the screenhouse trials. In both screenhouse and field trials, fungal formulations applied at the concentration of 10(8) conidia/mL and the acaricide reduced the population density of mites as compared to the controls. There were significant differences in T. urticae population densities between the treatments at the various post-spraying sampling dates. In the screenhouse, the mite densities were near zero from 3-week postspraying in the treated leaves. At 4-week postspraying, there were no more leaves in the untreated control (T1) and in the control water + Silwet-L77 (T2). Fungal formulations were as effective as abamectin in reducing mite densities in both screenhouse and field experiments. There were significant differences in the production parameters during the 2 screenhouse trials, with fungal and abamectin treatments generally having the highest yield. Results of this study underline the potential of the M. anisopliae isolate ICIPE78 as an alternative to acaricides for T. urticae management.

Spider mite control and resistance management: does a genome help?

The complete genome of the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, has been reported. This is the first sequenced genome of a highly polyphagous and resistant agricultural pest. The question as to what the genome offers the community working on spider mite control is addressed.

Fumigant toxicity of lemon eucalyptus oil constituents to acaricide-susceptible and acaricide-resistant Tetranychus urticae

BACKGROUND

This study was aimed at assessing the fumigant toxicity of 14 essential oil constituents from lemon eucalyptus, Eucalyptus citriodora Hook, and another ten known compounds to females of acaricide-susceptible, chlorfenapyr-resistant, fenpropathrin-resistant, pyridaben-resistant and abamectin-resistant strains of Tetranychus urticae Koch.

RESULTS

Menthol (LC(50) , 12.9 µg cm(-3) ) was the most toxic compound, followed by citronellyl acetate (16.8 µg cm(-3) ), against the susceptible females. High toxicity was also produced by β-citronellol, citral, geranyl acetate and eugenol (LC(50) , 21.7-24.6 µg cm(-3) ). The fumigant toxicity of these compounds was almost identical against females from either of the susceptible and resistant strains, indicating that the compounds and acaricides do not share a common mode of action or elicit cross-resistance.

CONCLUSION

Global efforts to reduce the level of highly toxic synthetic acaricides in the agricultural environment justify further studies on materials derived from lemon eucalyptus oil, particularly menthol and citronellyl acetate, as potential acaricides for the control of acaricide-resistant T. urticae as fumigants with contact action.

Acaricidal and quantitative structure activity relationship of monoterpenes against the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae

The acaricidal activity of 12 monoterpenes against the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, was examined using fumigation and direct contact application methods. Cuminaldehyde and (-)-linalool showed the highest fumigant toxicity with LC(50) = 0.31 and 0.56 mg/l, respectively. The other monoterpenes exhibited a strong fumigant toxicity, the LC(50) values ranging from 1.28 to 8.09 mg/l, except camphene, which was the least effective (LC(50) = 61.45 mg/l). Based on contact activity, the results were rather different: menthol displayed the highest acaricidal activity (LC(50) = 128.53 mg/l) followed by thymol (172.0 mg/l), geraniol (219.69 mg/l) and (-)-limonene (255.44 mg/l); 1-8-cineole, cuminaldehyde and (-)-linalool showed moderate toxicity. At 125 mg/l, (-)-Limonene and (-)-carvone caused the highest egg mortality among the tested compounds (70.6 and 66.9% mortality, respectively). In addition, the effect of molecular descriptors was also analyzed using the quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) procedure. The QSAR model showed excellent agreement between the estimated and experimentally measured toxicity parameter (LC(50)) for the tested monoterpenes and the fumigant activity increased significantly with the vapor pressure. Comparing the results of the fumigant and contact toxicity assays of monoterpenes against T. urticae with the results of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory effect revealed that some of the tested compounds showed a strong acaricidal activity and a potent AChE inhibitory activity, such as cuminaldehyde, (-)-linalool, (-)-limonene and menthol. However, other compounds such as (-)-carvone revealed a strong fumigant activity but a weak AChE inhibitory activity.

Mutations in the mitochondrial cytochrome b of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) confer cross-resistance between bifenazate and acequinocyl

BACKGROUND

Resistance of Tetranychus urticae Koch to bifenazate was recently linked with mutations in the mitochondrial cytochrome b Q(o) pocket, suggesting that bifenazate acts as a Q(o) inhibitor (Q(o)I). Since these mutations might cause cross-resistance to the known acaricidal Q(o)I acequinocyl and fluacrypyrim, resistance levels and inheritance patterns were investigated in several bifenazate-susceptible and bifenazate-resistant strains with different mutations in the cd1 and ef helices aligning the Q(o) pocket.

RESULTS

Cross-resistance to acequinocyl in two bifenazate-resistant strains was shown to be maternally inherited and caused by the combination of two specific mutations in the cytochrome b Q(o) pocket. Although most investigated strains were resistant to fluacrypyrim, resistance was not inherited maternally, but as a monogenic autosomal highly dominant trait. As a consequence, there was no correlation between cytochrome b genotype and fluacrypyrim resistance.

CONCLUSIONS

Although there is no absolute cross-resistance between bifenazate, acequinocyl and fluacrypyrim, some bifenazate resistance mutations confer cross-resistance to acequinocyl. In the light of resistance development and management, high prudence is called for when alternating bifenazate and acequinocyl in the same crop. Maternally inherited cross-resistance between bifenazate and acequinocyl reinforces the likelihood of bifenazate acting as a mitochondrial complex III inhibitor at the Q(o) site.

Resistance mechanisms to mitochondrial electron transport inhibitors in a field-collected strain of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae)

A Belgian field strain (MR-VP) of Tetranychus urticae (Koch) (Acari: Tetranychidae) exhibits different levels of resistance to four frequently used METI (mitochondrial electron transport inhibitor)-acaricides, i.e. tebufenpyrad, fenpyroximate, pyridaben and fenazaquin. Resistance factors for these compounds were 184, 1547, 5971 and 35, respectively. A 23.5-fold increase in 7-ethoxy-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin O-deethylation activity suggested that metabolic resistance through elevated levels of cytochrome P450 dependent monooxygenase-activity is a possible resistance mechanism.However, synergism studies with different metabolic inhibitors revealed some contrasting resistance mechanisms between the METI-acaricides. Tebufenpyrad resistance could only be synergized after pre-treatment with the monooxygenase inhibitor piperonyl butoxide (PBO), whereas pyridaben resistance was strongly synergized both by PBO and the esterase inhibitor S,S,S-tributylphosphorotrithioate (DEF). Resistance levels to fenpyroximate could neither be suppressed by PBO nor by DEF. Although METI-acaricides are structurally related, these findings probably reflect a different role of esterases and mono-oxygenases in metabolic detoxification between these compounds. The overall lack of synergism by diethylmaleate (DEM) suggests that glutathione-S-transferases are not an important factor in resistance to METIs.Reciprocal crosses between susceptible females and resistant males showed no maternal effect, and resistance to METI-acaricides was inherited generally as a dominant trait. Backcrosses with F1 females revealed striking differences in the mode of inheritance. Although resistance to fenpyroximate and pyridaben was under monogenic control, resistance to tebufenpyrad was under control of more than one gene.

Mitochondrial heteroplasmy and the evolution of insecticide resistance: non-Mendelian inheritance in action

Genes encoded by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) exist in large numbers per cell but can be selected very rapidly as a result of unequal partitioning of mtDNA between germ cells during embryogenesis. However, empirical studies of this "bottlenecking" effect are rare because of the apparent scarcity of heteroplasmic individuals possessing more than one mtDNA haplotype. Here, we report an example of insecticide resistance in an arthropod pest (Tetranychus urticae) being controlled by mtDNA and on its inheritance in a heteroplasmic mite strain. Resistance to the insecticide bifenazate is highly correlated with remarkable mutations in cytochrome b, a mitochondrially encoded protein in the respiratory pathway. Four sites in the Q(o) site that are absolutely conserved across fungi, protozoa, plants, and animals are mutated in resistant mite strains. Despite the unusual nature of these mutations, resistant mites showed no fitness costs in the absence of insecticide. Partially resistant strains, consisting of heteroplasmic individuals, transmit their resistant and susceptible haplotypes to progeny in highly variable ratios consistent with a sampling bottleneck of approximately 180 copies. Insecticide selection on heteroplasmic individuals favors those carrying resistant haplotypes at a frequency of 60% or more. This combination of factors enables very rapid evolution and accounts for mutations being fixed in most field-collected resistant strains. The results provide a rare insight into non-Mendelian mechanisms of mitochondrial inheritance and evolution, relevant to anticipating and understanding the development of other mitochondrially encoded adaptations in arthropods. They also provide strong evidence of cytochrome b being the target site for bifenazate in spider mites.

Acaricide toxicity and resistance in larvae of different strains of Tetranychus urticae and Panonychus ulmi (Acari: Tetranychidae)

The toxicities of eight structurally different acaricidal compounds to six-legged larvae (first motile stage) of three laboratory strains of the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus uritcae, and the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi, were evaluated following spray application. The larvae of five field-derived strains of T urticae originating from France, Italy, Brazil, California and Florida were also tested for their susceptibilities to discriminating concentrations of several acaricides resulting in 95% mortality when applied to the organophosphate-resistant laboratory reference strain WI. The spray bioassay used was robust and gave repeatable results with a wide range of acaricidal compounds, irrespective of their mode of action (ovo-larvicides or primarily acting on motile life stages). Compounds tested were abamectin, azocyclotin, chlorpyrifos, clofentezine, deltamethrin, fenpyroximate, hexythiazox and pyridaben. Larvae of one of the laboratory strains of T urticae, AK, originally collected in Japan in 1996 and maintained without further selection pressure, exhibited 2000- and > 4000-fold resistance to the mitochondrial electron transport inhibitors pyridaben and fenpyroximate, respectively. Another strain of T urticae, AU, obtained from Australia and maintained in the laboratory under selection with hexythiazox and clofentezine since 1987 showed > 770- and > 1000-fold resistance to clofentezine and hexythiazox, respectively. The same resistance pattern was observed against larvae of a laboratory strain of P ulmi, CE, also selected with hexythiazox. Larvae of one of the field-derived strains of T urticae, BR, showed a lower susceptibility to a number of compounds, whilst the others were susceptible to all compounds except the organophosphates.