The activity of the Bacillus sphaericus binary (Bin) toxin on Culex quinquefasciatus larvae depends on its specific binding to the Cqm1 receptor, a midgut membrane-bound ␣-glucosidase. A 19-nucleotide deletion in the cqm1 gene (cqm1 REC ) mediates high-level resistance to Bin toxin. Here, resistance in nontreated and B. sphaericus-treated field populations of C. quinquefasciatus was assessed through bioassays as well as a specific PCR assay designed to detect the cqm1 REC allele in individual larvae. Resistance ratios at 90% lethal concentration, gathered through bioassays, were close to 1 and indicate that the selected populations had similar levels of susceptibility to B. sphaericus, comparable to that of a laboratory colony. A diagnostic PCR assay detected the cqm1 REC allele in all populations investigated, and its frequency in two nontreated areas was 0.006 and 0.003, while the frequency in the B. sphaericus-treated population was significantly higher. Values of 0.053 and 0.055 were detected for two distinct sets of samples, and homozygote resistant larvae were found. Evaluation of Cqm1 expression in individual larvae through ␣-glucosidase assays corroborated the allelic frequency revealed by PCR. The data from this study indicate that the cqm1 REC allele was present at a detectable frequency in nontreated populations, while the higher frequency in samples from the treated area is, perhaps, correlated with the exposure to B. sphaericus. This is the first report of the molecular detection of a biolarvicide resistance allele in mosquito populations, and it confirms that the PCR-based approach is suitable to track such alleles in target populations.Bacillus sphaericus Neide is considered the most successful microbial larvicide to date for the control of mosquito species from the Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) complex (20). B. sphaericus biolarvicides commercially available are based on highly toxic strains characterized by their ability to express the binary (Bin) protoxin, a crystal protein produced in large amounts during sporulation (7). This heterodimer is formed by the BinA (42-kDa) and BinB (51-kDa) subunits that act in synergy to produce larvicidal activity upon Culex larvae (3, 23). The BinB subunit is responsible for the recognition and binding of the toxin to specific receptors on the midgut epithelium surface, while BinA is primarily responsible for the toxic effects, but first the crystal has to be ingested by the larvae and the protoxin must be processed into toxin by the midgut (7). The Bin toxin receptor in C. pipiens (Cpm1) and Culex quinquefasciatus (Cqm1) is a 60-kDa ␣-glucosidase attached to the epithelial cell membrane by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor (9, 30, 31). The action of the Bin toxin on Culex larvae relies on its specific binding to those membrane-bound receptors (24). Disruption of the interaction between the toxin and the midgut is the major mechanism underlying resistance, and it has already been reported from different laboratory-or fieldselected colonies (25,26,27,3...
These data show that mechanisms of temephos resistance have been selected in natural C. quinquefasciatus populations from Pernambuco, which could undermine future control actions.
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