Review
Major effect genes or loose confederations? The development of insecticide resistance in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae
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* Corresponding author: Basil D Brooke basilb@nicd.ac.za
1 Malaria Entomology Research Unit, School of Pathology of the University of the Witwatersrand and the National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
2 Vector Control Reference Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, NHLS, Private Bag X4, Sandringham, 2131, South Africa
Parasites & Vectors 2010, 3:74 doi:10.1186/1756-3305-3-74
Published: 17 August 2010Abstract
Insecticide use in public health and agriculture presents a dramatic adaptive challenge to target and non-target insect populations. The rapid development of genetically modulated resistance to insecticides is postulated to develop in two distinct ways: By selection for single major effect genes or by selection for loose confederations in which several factors, not normally associated with each other, inadvertently combine their effects to produce resistance phenotypes. Insecticide resistance is a common occurrence and has been intensively studied in the major malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, providing a useful model for examining how insecticide resistance develops and what pleiotropic effects are likely to emerge as a consequence of resistance. As malaria vector control becomes increasingly reliant on successfully managing insecticide resistance, the characterisation of resistance mechanisms and their pleiotropic effects becomes increasingly important.