Inheritance of DDT dehydrochlorination and of a mechanism restricting uptake of DDT in the mosquito Aedes aegypti

Abstract

Crosses and backcrosses were made between the T8 dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) resistant strain and NS susceptible strain. Each generation was tested for resistance, for internal levels of DDT and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) (thus "DDT uptake" (DDT + DDE) and percentage DDT dehydrochlorination in vivo), and for DDT dehydrochlorination in vitro, both at the larval and adult stages. The patterns of inheritance of uptake and dehydrochlorination were different. At both life stages, dehydrochlorination (both in vivo and in vitro) was intermediate in the F1, reverting to or exceeding the parental strains in the backcrosses except in adult tests on the backcrosses to the susceptible strain where it remained intermediate. Uptake increased very substantially in the F1 compared with either parental strain and was also high in the backcrosses. This was interpreted as being due to the disruption of an uptake-restricting mechanism in T8 brought about by outcrossing. Larval resistance in the various generations was correlated significantly with dehydrochlorination, both in vivo and in vitro but bore no clear relation to uptake. Resistance in adults was found not to be correlated significantly with either. Key words: DDT dehydrochlorination, pesticide resistance, DDT uptake, DDT resistance, dehydrochlorination in vivo and in vitro assays.