Medical and Veterinary Entomology (2008) 22, 82-88

C. Pasay, L. Arlian, M. Morgan, D. Vyszenski-Moher, A. Rose, D. Holt, S. Walton and J. McCarthy (2008)
High-resolution melt analysis for the detection of a mutation associated with permethrin resistance in a population of scabies mites
Medical and Veterinary Entomology 22 (1), 82-88
Abstract: Permethrin as a topical acaricide cream is widely used to treat scabies. The neuronal voltage-sensitive sodium channel (Vssc), necessary for the generation of action potentials in excitable cells, is the target of pyrethroid acaricides such as permethrin. Pyrethroid resistance has been linked to specific mutations in the Vssc gene. Following the partial sequencing of the Vssc gene in the scabies mite Sarcoptes scabiei (L.) (Astigmata: Sarcoptidae), we compared Vssc gene sequences from permethrin-sensitive and -tolerant S. scabiei var. canis Gerlach mites, and identified a G to A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in permethrin-tolerant mites resulting in an amino acid change from glycine to aspartic acid in domain III S6. The mutation is in a region of the gene where mutations have been identified in a range of pyrethroid-resistant arthropods. Results of in vitro permethrin exposure assays showed that survival rates for mites bearing the mutation were similar to those previously reported for mites from human subjects where clinical tolerance to permethrin had been observed. A real-time polymerase chain reaction−high-resolution melt (PCR-HRM) assay was developed to detect this SNP. This assay provides a useful methodology for screening for this and other mutations associated with permethrin resistance in scabies mite populations and thus facilitates surveillance for acaricide resistance.
(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): Cielo Pasay, Larry G. Arlian, Andreas Rose

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.
	Sarcoptes scabiei