Measuring induced resistance to pyrethroid insecticides in the pest mosquito Aedes aegypti.

Aedes aegypti, the Yellow Fever Mosquito, is the major vector of dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever throughout tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Dengue is epidemic in more than 110 countries and causes about 100 million infections annually. Latin America and Southeast Asia are currently experiencing the worst dengue outbreaks in 50 years. Dengue vaccines have not proven effective, leaving vector control as the fallback. Control of adult Ae. aegypti currently relies on synthetic pyrethroids, the only insecticides authorized by the World Health Organization (WHO) to control the spread of Ae. aegypti through transportation. However, long term use of these insecticides has caused resistance to emerge at numerous locations globally. Our data show that Ae. aegypti in Miami-Dade County are ~50X more resistant than lab strains. We are conducting a longitudinal study to determine whether Ae. Aegypti acquires insecticide resistance in response to sub-lethal pesticide exposure (permethrin) through induced upregulation of enzyme-based detoxification pathways. Three lines are being exposed to synthetic sub-lethal dose in each of four generations, another three lines are exposed only during the 4th generation, and three more lines are never exposed