Genetics of insecticide resistance in mosquito vectors of disease

Early studies on the genetics of insecticide resistance showed that single major semi-dominant genes were generally involved, and biochemical studies defined a limited number of enzymes and structural nerve proteins that were encoded by these genes. Recent advances in resistance detection now allow the measurement of genotype frequencies for some of these resistance mechanisms. Molecular studies are in progress for most of the major resistance genes, and the amplified esterase B1 gene in Culex quinquefasciatus has been cloned. Changes in resistance gene expression occur, with increasing age of the adult insect, by way of specific mechanisms, and amplified esterase-based resistance genes that are not expressed can occur in aphids. Here Janet Hemingway assesses current knowledge of the genetics of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes.