Novel mutations in the VKORC1 gene of wild rats and mice--a response to 50 years of selection pressure by warfarin?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Coumarin derivatives have been in world-wide use for rodent pest control for more than 50 years. Due to their retarded action as inhibitors of blood coagulation by repression of the vitamin K reductase (VKOR) activity, they are the rodenticides of choice against several species. Resistance to these compounds has been reported for rodent populations from many countries around the world and poses a considerable problem for efficacy of pest control.

Results

In the present study, we have sequenced the VKORC1 genes of more than 250 rats and mice trapped in anticoagulant-exposed areas from four continents, and identified 18 novel and five published missense mutations, as well as eight neutral sequence variants, in a total of 178 animals. Mutagenesis in VKORC1 cDNA const

SUBMITTER: Rost S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2644709 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature