Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Comparative genomics

Insecticide resistance in mosquito vectors

Nature volume 423, pages 136–137 (2003)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 20 May 2004

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 25 September 2003

Abstract

Resistance to insecticides among mosquitoes that act as vectors for malaria (Anopheles gambiae) and West Nile virus (Culex pipiens) emerged more than 25 years ago in Africa, America and Europe; this resistance is frequently due to a loss of sensitivity of the insect's acetylcholinesterase enzyme to organophosphates and carbamates1. Here we show that this insensitivity results from a single amino-acid substitution in the enzyme, which we found in ten highly resistant strains of C. pipiens from tropical (Africa and Caribbean) and temperate (Europe) areas, as well as in one resistant African strain of A. gambiae. Our identification of this mutation may pave the way for designing new insecticides.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Residual acetylcholinesterase activity of susceptible (green squares) and resistant (black diamonds) mosquitoes assayed in homogenates and lysates from transfected S2 cells in the presence of increasing concentrations of the carbamate insecticide Propoxur.

References

  1. Toutant, J. P. Progr. Neurobiol. 32, 423–446 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Weill, M. et al. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 269, 2007–2016 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Mutéro, A., Pralavorio, M., Bride, J. M. & Fournier, D. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 91, 5922–5926 (1994).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. N' Guessan, R. et al. Med. Vet. Entomol. 17, 1–7 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bourguet, D., Pasteur, N., Bisset, J. & Raymond, M. Pest. Biochem. Physiol. 55, 122–128 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution (UMR 5554), CC 065, Université Montpellier II, Montpellier, 34095, France

    Mylène Weill, Arnaud Berthomieu, Claire Berticat, Nicole Pasteur & Michel Raymond

  2. Défenses Antivirales et Tumorales (UMR 5124), Montpellier, 34293, France

    Georges Lutfalla & Knud Mogensen

  3. Centre de Recherche en Biochimie des Macromolécules (UPR1086), CNRS, Montpellier, 34293, France

    Alexandre Philips & Philippe Fort

  4. IRD/LIN, BP 64501, Montpellier, 34394, France

    Fabrice Chandre

Authors
  1. Mylène Weill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Georges Lutfalla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Knud Mogensen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Fabrice Chandre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Arnaud Berthomieu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Claire Berticat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Nicole Pasteur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Alexandre Philips
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Philippe Fort
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Michel Raymond
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mylène Weill.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Weill, M., Lutfalla, G., Mogensen, K. et al. Insecticide resistance in mosquito vectors. Nature 423, 136–137 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/423136b

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/423136b

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing