The molecular mechanism(s) by which DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) acts as an insect "repellent" has not been resolved. Using forward genetic screens in Caenorhabditis elegans, we have isolated five DEET-resistant mutants (der-1) after EMS mutagenesis of DEET-sensitive N2. Two are allelic and have been mapped between 2.4 mu and 2.9 mu on linkage group (LG) IV. Specifically, 3F (factor) cross data between two markers unc-5 (1.78 mu) and egl-19 (3.34 mu) on LGIV showed that 11/22 (50%) Egl-19 recombinants were DEET-resistant and 11/22 (50%) were DEET sensitive for allele hf175. In case of allele hf176, the data were 19/32 (59%) and 13/32 (41%), respectively. In addition, all Lin-33 recombinants from the 3F cross between two references unc-5 (1.78 mu) and lin-33 (2.55 mu) showed DEET sensitivity in both hf175 and hf176. Several additional 3F crosses are in various stages of completion. Interestingly, wild-type strains CB4856, AB1, and AB2 have been shown to be DEET resistant relative to the wild-type strains N2 and CB4852, which are both DEET sensitive. These findings suggest that DEET-resistance may be more common than we originally expected. Successful cloning of the der-1 gene is an important step not only to elucidate the mechanism of DEET action but may prove useful in designing the next generation of chemicals that helps reducing insect-borne-diseases.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TCU/oai:etd.tcu.edu:etd-10162009-121614 |
| Date | 16 October 2009 |
| Creators | Nguyen, Ahn Quynh |
| Contributors | Phil S Hartman |
| Publisher | Texas Christian University |
| Source Sets | Texas Christian University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.tcu.edu/etdfiles/available/etd-10162009-121614/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to TCU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds