Kdr mutations associated with pyrethroid resistance in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes from Argentina

BARRERA ILLANES, ALBERTO NICOLAS; MICIELI, MARÍA VICTORIA; ONS, SHEILA

La Plata

Congreso; II Congress of the Latin American Society for Vector Ecology ?Control of endemic zoonotic and vector-borne emerging and re-emerging diseases: Current challenges in Latin America?; 2022

Universidad Nacional de La Plata

The Aedes aegypti mosquito possesses sanitary relevance as a vector of the dengue, chikungunya, zika and yellow fever viruses, which cause thousands of deaths per year in the world. During epidemic periods, dengue control strategies include the use of pyrethroid insecticides. Pyrethroids cause insect death by modifying the normal function of proteic voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav) in the membrane of excitable cells. Specific point mutations of the Nav genes, called kdr mutations, are a major cause of pyrethroid resistance in insects. Increase in the frequency of two kdr mutations called V1016I and F1534C have been reported in American continent natural populations of Ae. aegypti. Despite this, the presence, abundance and distribution of these mutations have not been reported to date in Argentina. This work proposes the identification, monitoring and study of the distribution of kdr mutations in populations of Ae. aegypti from Argentina. For this, a technique developed in our laboratory called High Resolution Melting (HRM) based on quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), has been implemented. We found the presence of both V1016I and F1534C mutations in Tartagal (Salta Province), whereas in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires only 1534C was detected. This is the first report on kdr mutations in Argentina. Resistance monitoring is a fundamental requirement for prolonging the life span of insecticides and the planning of viable control alternatives.