Constitutive activation of the Nrf2/Keap1 pathway in insecticide-resistant strains of Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Pesticide resistance poses a major challenge for the control of vector-borne human diseases and agricultural crop protection. Although a number of studies have defined how mutations in specific target proteins can lead to insecticide resistance, much less is known about the mechanisms by which constitutive overexpression of detoxifying enzymes contributes to metabolic pesticide resistance. Here we show that the Nrf2/Keap1 pathway is constitutively active in two laboratory-selected DDT-resistant strains of Drosophila, 91R and RDDTR, leading to the overexpression of multiple detoxifying genes. Disruption of the Drosophila Nrf2 ortholog, CncC, or overexpression of Keap1, is sufficient to block this transcriptional response. In addition, a CncC-responsive reporter is highly active in both DDT-

SUBMITTER: Misra JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3852162 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature