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21 September 2022 Multiple Mechanisms Confer Fipronil Resistance in the German Cockroach: Enhanced Detoxification and Rdl Mutation
María A. González-Morales, Zachary C. DeVries, Richard G. Santangelo, Madhavi L. Kakumanu, Coby Schal
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Abstract

Populations of Blattella germanica (L.) (German cockroach) have been documented worldwide to be resistant to a wide variety of insecticides with multiple modes of action. The phenylpyrazole insecticide fipronil has been used extensively to control German cockroach populations, exclusively in baits, yet the highest reported fipronil resistance is 38-fold in a single population. We evaluated five populations of German cockroaches, collected in 2018–2019 in apartments in North Carolina and assayed in 2019, to determine the status of fipronil resistance in the state. Resistance ratios in field-collected strains ranged from 22.4 to 37.2, indicating little change in fipronil resistance over the past 20 yr. In contrast, resistance to pyrethroids continues to escalate. We also assessed the roles of detoxification enzymes in fipronil resistance with four synergists previously shown to diminish metabolic resistance to various insecticides in German cockroaches—piperonyl butoxide, S,S,S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate, diethyl maleate, and triphenyl phosphate. These enzymes appear to play a variable role in fipronil resistance. We also sequenced a fragment of the Rdl (resistant to dieldrin) gene that encodes a subunit of the GABA receptor. Our findings showed that all field-collected strains are homozygous for a mutation that substitutes serine for an alanine (A302S) in Rdl, and confers low resistance to fipronil. Understanding why cockroaches rapidly evolve high levels of resistance to some insecticides and not others, despite intensive selection pressure, will contribute to more efficacious pest management.

© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
María A. González-Morales, Zachary C. DeVries, Richard G. Santangelo, Madhavi L. Kakumanu, and Coby Schal "Multiple Mechanisms Confer Fipronil Resistance in the German Cockroach: Enhanced Detoxification and Rdl Mutation," Journal of Medical Entomology 59(5), 1721-1731, (21 September 2022). https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjac100
Received: 7 April 2022; Accepted: 28 June 2022; Published: 21 September 2022
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KEYWORDS
Blattella germanica
fipronil
German cockroach
insecticide resistance
Rdl
target site insensitivity
Urban IPM
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