Deltamethrin Binding to Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) Lipoproteins. Analysis by Solvent Bar Microextraction Coupled to Gas Chromatography

Lipid Metabolism in Insect Vectors of Diseases

According to the World Health Organization vector-borne diseases account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases, causing more than 700,000 deaths annually. Vectors are organisms that are able to transmit infectious pathogens between humans, or from animals to humans. Many of these vectors are hematophagous insects, which ingest the pathogen from an infected host during a blood meal, and later transmit it into a new host. Malaria, dengue, African trypanosomiasis, yellow fever, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and many others are examples of diseases transmitted by insects.Both the diet and the infection with pathogens trigger changes in many metabolic pathways, including lipid metabolism, compared to other insects. Blood contains mostly proteins and is very poor in lipids and carbohydrates. Thus, hematophagous insects attempt to efficiently digest and absorb diet lipids and also rely on a large de novo lipid biosynthesis based on utilization of proteins and carbohydrates as carbon source. Blood meal triggers essential physiological processes as molting, excretion, and oogenesis; therefore, lipid metabolism and utilization of lipid storage should be finely synchronized and regulated regarding that, in order to provide the necessary energy source for these events. Also, pathogens have evolved mechanisms to hijack essential lipids from the insect host by interfering in the biosynthesis, catabolism, and transport of lipids, which pose challenges to reproduction, survival, fitness, and other insect traits.In this chapter, we have tried to collect and highlight the current knowledge and recent discoveries on the metabolism of lipids in insect vectors of diseases related to the hematophagous diet and pathogen infection.

Cytochrome P450 Genes of the CYP4 Clan and Pyrethroid Resistance in Chagas Disease Vectors

Triatomine insects are vectors of the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. Although residual pyrethroid spraying has been a successful vector control strategy for many years, a growing number of pyrethroid-resistance foci is being documented, mainly in Triatoma infestans, that led to failures in vector elimination. Insecticide resistance is a multifactorial phenomenon that often implies a combination of three different mechanisms: increased insecticide detoxification, reduced affinity of the site of action, and reduced insecticide penetration through the cuticle. All three mechanisms were reported in pyrethroid-resistant T. infestans. Cytochrome P450s are enzymes involved in the metabolism of xenobiotics and endogenous chemicals. They are encoded by CYP genes and classified into different families and clans. In triatomines, the CYP4 clan is divided in two families, CYP3093 and CYP4, and both exhibit genome-wide, triatomine-specific gene expansions. Some members from each family have been reported to be involved in two of the mechanisms mentioned above, i.e., they participate in insecticide detoxification in different organs and tissues, and in the synthesis of cuticular hydrocarbons, which ultimately can contribute to a reduced insecticide penetration. The aim of this manuscript is to review the current state of knowledge of P450 genes belonging to the CYP4 clan in triatomines and to highlight their potential role in insecticide resistance.

Applications of Hollow-Fiber and Related Microextraction Techniques for the Determination of Pesticides in Environmental and Food Samples—A Mini Review

Pesticides represent one of the most important groups of analytes in environmental analysis. Moreover, their levels are very frequently determined in food and beverages due to the concern over their possible adverse health effects. Their concentration in samples is usually very low; thus, they have to be preconcentrated. Conventional solvent and solid-phase extractions are mainly used for this purpose, but miniaturized approaches are also being applied more and more often. The present review covers solvent microextractions that use a semi-permeable membrane barrier between the sample and the solvent. The main representatives of this approach are hollow-fiber microextraction (HFME), solvent bar microextraction (SBME), electromembrane extraction (EME), and different variations of those, such as combinations with other sorbent or solvent microextractions, electromigration, etc. The relevant research from the last decade, dealing with the application of these microextractions to the isolation of pesticides from various environmental and food samples, is critically discussed with emphasis on their strengths and weak points.

Transcriptome Analysis of the Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) Integument

The insect integument, formed by the cuticle and the underlying epidermis, is essential for insect fitness, regulation of lipid biosynthesis and storage, insect growth and feeding, together with development progress. Its participation in insecticide resistance has also been outlined. Triatoma infestans Klug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) is one of the major vectors of Chagas disease in South America; however, genomic data are scarce. In this study, we performed a transcriptome analysis of the nymph integument in order to identify which genes are expressed and their putative role. Using the 454 GS-FLX sequencing platform, we obtained approximately 144,620 reads from the integument tissue. These reads were assembled into 6,495 isotigs and 8,504 singletons. Based on BLAST similarity searches, about 8,000 transcripts were annotated with known genes, conserved domains, and/or Gene Ontology terms.The most abundant transcripts corresponded to transcription factors and nucleic acid metabolism, membrane receptors, cell signaling, and proteins related to cytoskeleton, transport, and cell energy processes, among others. More than 10% of the transcripts-encoded proteins putatively involved in the metabolism of fatty acids and related components (fatty acid synthases, elongases, desaturases, fatty alcohol reductases), structural integument proteins, and the insecticide detoxification system (among them, cytochrome P450s, esterases, and glutathione transferases). Real-time qPCR assays were used to investigate their putative participation in the resistance mechanism. This preliminary study is the first transcriptome analysis of a triatomine integument, and together with prior biochemical information, will help further understandthe role of the integument in a wide array of mechanisms.