Point Mutations Associated with Organophosphate and Carbamate Resistance in Chinese Strains of Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae)

Acetylcholinesterase resistance has been well documented in many insects, including several mosquito species. We tested the resistance of five wild, Chinese strains of the mosquito Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus to two kinds of pesticides, dichlorvos and propoxur. An acetylcholinesterase gene (ace1) was cloned and sequenced from a pooled sample of mosquitoes from these five strains and the amino acids of five positions were found to vary (V185M, G247S, A328S, A391T, and T682A). Analysis of the correlation between mutation frequencies and resistance levels (LC50) suggests that two point mutations, G247S (r(2) = 0.732, P = 0.065) and A328S (r(2) = 0.891, P = 0.016), are associated with resistance to propoxur but not to dichlorvos. Although the V185M mutation was not associated with either dichlorvos or propoxur resistance, its RS genotype frequency was correlated with propoxur resistance (r(2) = 0.815, P = 0.036). And the HWE test showed the A328S mutation is linked with V185M, also with G247S mutation. This suggested that these three mutations may contribute synergistically to propoxur resistance. The T682A mutation was negatively correlated with propoxur (r(2) = 0.788, P = 0.045) resistance. Knowledge of these mutations may help design strategies for managing pesticide resistance in wild mosquito populations.