Susceptibility to acaricides and detoxifying enzyme activity in Tetranychus gloveri Banks (Acari: Tetranychidae) populations from India

ABSTRACT

Tetranychus gloveri, a recently introduced mite species in Kerala, India has now established in the state as a predominant mite pest on ornamental plants. In this study, the status of acaricide resistance and the activity of detoxification enzymes were investigated in the populations of T. gloveri collected on Adenium plants from six different commercial horticultural nurseries of Thrissur district, Kerala, India. Adulticidal bioassays were performed for fenazaquin and dicofol, while nymphicidal bioassays were conducted for spiromesifen to estimate the LC₅₀. The field populations showed resistance ratios in the range of 1.66–14.38-fold for fenazaquin, 1.06–27.31-fold for spiromesifen and 1.22–3.65-fold for dicofol, compared to the laboratory-maintained reference population. Enzyme assays of detoxifying enzymes revealed enhanced activity of carboxylesterase by 1.03–3.52-fold and cytochrome P450 monooxygenase by 1.01–2.08-fold in the field populations. However, the role of glutathione S-transferase in the development of resistance in different field populations was insignificant. The study recorded the development of resistance in the spider mite, T. gloveri to new generation acaricides spiromesifen and fenazaquin for the first time and also confirmed the significant role of the carboxylesterases and cytochrome P450 monooxygenases in imparting resistance in T. gloveri.

KEYWORDS:

• Spiromesifen
• fenazaquin
• dicofol
• acaricide resistance
• carboxylesterases
• cytochrome P450 monooxygenase
• glutathione-S-transferases

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Sreesha M. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Sreesha M., and Haseena Bhaskar and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets generated analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request

Additional information

Funding

The authors declare that no funds or grants were received during the preparation of this manuscript. Research support was received from All India Network Project on Agricultural Acarology, KAU (Kerala Agricultural University) Centre, during the research programme