Proteomic assessment of resistance to the fumigant phosphine in the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.)

A previous publication compared a strain of the stored-grain pest beetle, Rhyzopertha dominica, resistant to the fumigant phosphine, with a susceptible strain using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Certain proteins appeared to differ and the authors proposed that arginine kinase in particular might be used as a marker for the rapid monitoring of resistance in this species and other pests of stored grain. Here an expanded set of susceptible and resistant strains is surveyed using the two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) system. Of hundreds of spots only two showed a significant difference between the resistant and susceptible strains and the magnitudes of those differences were less than three-fold. Arginine kinase spots were identified but they did not differ significantly. The proposal that certain abundant proteins of R. dominica might be used as markers of phosphine resistance was not supported by the present study.