Analysis of the relationship between P-glycoprotein and abamectin resistance in Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval)

• The AbR strain of Tetranychus cinnabarinus has higher levels of Pgp-related abamectin-sensitive ATPase activity.
• TcPgp1 and TcPgp2 were inducible and more sensitive to abamectin stimulation in AbR than SS.
• Abamectin-induced Pgp expression may be involved in the modulation of abamectin efflux in T. cinnabarinus.
• It provides a foundation to get a better understanding of the correlation between Pgp and abamectin resistance.

Abamectin is an effective acaricide and widely used in the control of Tetranychus cinnabarinus. With the increase of control failures, it is however important to clarify the resistance mechanism to improve the control of this mite. P-glycoprotein (Pgp) is an ATP-dependent drug efflux pump for xenobiotic compounds and is involved in multidrug resistance. In this study, the results showed that verapamil, the specific inhibitor of Pgp, could enhance the lethal effect of abamectin on mites, and this effect is more enhanced in abamectin-resistant strain (AbR, mortality increased 74.51%) than that in susceptible strain (SS, 19.91%). Further analysis showed that the activity of Pgp ATPase in AbR was significantly higher (1.65-fold) than that in SS. After exposure to sublethal concentration of abamectin, the ATPase activity in AbR was significantly increased 1.43-fold to that in control; but there was no significant difference in SS after treatment. Two Pgp gene sequences (TcPgp1 and TcPgp2) from ABCB subfamily were characterized, and their expressions were much more sensitive to abamectin's stimulation in AbR strain than SS. These findings indicate a direct relationship between Pgp and abamectin resistance, and abamectin-induced Pgp expression may be involved in the modulation of abamectin efflux in T. cinnabarinus.

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