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Submitted to: Resistance Pest Management Newsletter
Publication Type: Proceedings Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2001 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Insecticide resistance has been estimated to cost Americans $133 million annually and perhaps $1 billion worldwide. The German cockroach has developed resistance to all of the traditional insecticides and cross resistance has been reported among many new insecticides. Elucidation of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms responsible for insecticide resistance in the German cockroach will provide possible methods to preven or delay its development. A scientist at the Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Florida, has identified several key mechanisms responsible for cypermethrin resistance in the German cockroach, including a previously unknown detoxification esterase(s) located in the endoplasmic reticulum. This fundamental information will be used to conduct future studies that may provide a means to detect insecticide resistance in the German cockroach (and possibly other insects) before insecticide treatments are chosen or dispensed. Technical Abstract: Insecticides have been used extensively to control the German cockroach, and, as a result, resistance appears to have become prevalent among German cockroach populations (3-6). Although the overwhelming majority of reports have concluded that multiple resistance mechanisms were responsible for resistance in the German cockroach, esterases have been identified consistently as a major contributor to the resistance level (Hemingway et al. 1993, Anspaugh et al. 1994, Scharf et al. 1997, Valles 1998). Several of these reports have indicated that esterases are functioning to sequester insecticides (especially pyrethroids) thus preventing the toxicant from reaching the intended target site (Prahbakaran and Kamble 1995, Scharf et al. 1997). |
