Characterization of the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS) proteins of Rhodnius prolixus and study of their role in detoxification

SIERRA, IVANA S.; PERONE, AGUSTINA; TRAVERSO, LUCILA; VOLONTÉ, MARIANO; ONS, SHEILA

La Plata

Congreso; II Congreso de la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Ecología de Vectores (LA SOVE 2022) ?Control de enfermedades endémicas zoonóticas y transmitidas por vectores, emergentes y reemergentes: Desafíos actuales en Latinoamérica?; 2022

Sociedad Latinoamericana de Ecología de Vectores

Chagas disease affects around eight million people worldwide.The causative agent is the protozoan parasite Trypanosomacruzi, transmitted to mammals by the feces of triatomine insects.The most important vector species are Triatoma infestans in theSouthern Cone and Rhodnius prolixus in the Andean region andin Central America. Given the absence of vaccines and efficienttreatments in the chronic stage, reduction of triatominepopulation is the method choice for the control of disease.Vector control efforts have been based mainly on the applicationof pyrethroid insecticides. However, in the last decades it hasbeen repeatedly reported the presence of Triatoma infestansafter spraying with pyrethroid insecticides, which wasassociated with the emergence of insecticide resistance.Hence, the study of detoxification mechanisms and thediscovery of targets for new insecticides are fundamentalresearch fields for the improvement of pest managementstrategies. The MFS proteins are ATP-independent andtransport a wide range of small solutes in favor of anelectrochemical gradient. Previous results of our groupindicated a decrease in the expression of some MFS genesafter treatment with deltamethrin in T. infestans and afterintoxication with an essential oil in Aedes aegypti larvae. Theseresults suggest that some MFS transporters could have a rolein the response to xenobiotics. In the present work we carriedout a study of MFS proteins and their implication indetoxification in triatomines using R. prolixus. With the objectiveof performing a complete characterization of MFS transportersin R. prolixus physiology and their role in the response to a toxiccompound, we combined bioinformatic and molecularstrategies. First, we performed a phylogenetic analysis of theseproteins along with those previously reported in Drosophilamelanogaster and T. infestans. These results allowed us toidentify possible candidates to be involved in the response totoxic compounds according to previous results found in thosespecies. We found 7 candidates (RPRC010040, RPRC002229,RPRC010038, RPRC010027, RPRC008199, RPRC003332and RPRC013855) and Selected RPRC010038 to analyze hisexpression in different tissues by RT-PCR. We found that it isexpressed in crop, fat body, salivary glands, Malpighian tubules,nervous system and midgut, but not in rectum. Moreover, weperformed quantitative PCR assays to evaluate geneexpression changes after three hours of intoxication with thepyrethroid deltamethrin and we did not find significant changesfrom control. Here we present the first approach to the study ofthe role of MFS transporters in triatomine detoxification. Theresults contribute to the knowledge about detoxifyingmechanisms in triatomine insects, valuable for the developmentof new vector control strategies.