Dc. Knipple et al., TIGHT GENETIC-LINKAGE BETWEEN THE KDR INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE TRAIT AND A VOLTAGE-SENSITIVE SODIUM-CHANNEL GENE IN THE HOUSE-FLY, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 91(7), 1994, pp. 2483-2487
The kdr insecticide resistance trait in the house fly, Musca domestica
, confers resistance to the rapid paralysis (knockdown) and lethal eff
ects of 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) and pyreth
roids. Flies with the kdr trait exhibit reduced neuronal sensitivity t
o these compounds. which are known to act at voltage-sensitive sodium
channels of nerve membranes. To test the hypothesis that a mutation in
a voltage-sensitive sodium channel gene confers the kdr phenotype, we
have cloned genomic DNA corresponding to a segment of the house fly h
omologue of the para sodium channel gene of Drosophila melanogaster, i
dentified restriction-site polymorphisms within this segment between t
he kdr strain 538ge and an inbred insecticide-susceptible lab stain, a
nd developed a sensitive polymerase chain reaction-based diagnostic pr
ocedure to determine the sodium channel genotype of individual flies.
A genetic linkage analysis performed with these molecular markers show
s that the kdr trait is tightly linked (within about 1 map unit) to th
e voltage-sensitive sodium channel gene segment exhibiting the DNA seq
uence polymorphism. These findings provide genetic evidence for a muta
tion at or near a voltage-sensitive sodium channel gene as the basis f
or kdr resistance.