Bulletin of Entomological Research (1992) 82, 459-463

Alan L. Devonshire, Gregor J. Devine and Graham D. Moores (1992)
Comparison of microplate esterase assays and immunoassay for identifying insecticide resistant variants of Myzus persicae (Homoptera: Aphididae)
Bulletin of Entomological Research 82 (4), 459-463
Abstract: Insecticide resistant Myzus persicae (Sulzer) employ increased esterase activity to detoxify insecticides by hydrolysis and sequestration. The amount of esterase, and hence resistance, in individual aphids can be determined by measuring either overall naphthyl acetate hydrolysis in crude homogenates, or the specific enzyme responsible (E4 or FE4) after electrophoresis or immunological isolation. The ability of a total esterase assay, done in microplates, to discriminate between susceptible (S) aphids and resistant variants (R₁, R₂) with different amounts of E4/FE4, was compared with the resolving power of the more elaborate immunoassay technique. The immunoassay gave the better discrimination between variants, resolving them all with greater than 95% confidence, with particularly good separation of R₁ from S. The microplate assay using crude homogenates, although a poorer discriminator, identified most of the very resistant (R₂) aphids, and provided a robust and widely accessible method for broadly representing the resistance of field populations.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Graham D. Moores, Gregor J. Devine

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pesticide resistance of pest

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Myzus persicae