RT Journal Article
T1 Geographic distribution of the V1016G knockdown resistance mutation in Aedes albopictus: a warning bell for Europe
A1 Pichler, Verena
A1 Caputo, Beniamino
A1 Valadas, Vera
A1 Micocci, Martina
A1 Horvath, Cintia
A1 Virgillito, Chiara
A1 Akiner, Mustafa
A1 Balatsos, Georgios
A1 Bender, Christelle
A1 Besnard, Gilles
A1 Bravo Barriga, Daniel
A1 Bueno Mari, Rubén
A1 Collantes, Francisco
A1 Delacour Estrella, Sarah
A1 Dikolli, Enkelejda
A1 Falcuta, Elena
A1 Flacio, Eleonora
A1 García Pérez, Ana L.
A1 Kalan, Katja
A1 Kavran, Mihaela
A1 L’Ambert, Gregory
A1 Lia, Riccardo P.
A1 Marabuto, Eduardo
A1 Medialdea, Raquel
A1 Melero Alcibar, Rosario
A1 Michaelakis, Antonios
A1 Mihalca, Andrei
A1 Mikov, Ognyan
A1 Miranda, Miguel A.
A1 Müller, Pie
A1 Otranto, Domenico
A1 Pajovic, Igor
A1 Petric, Dusan
A1 Rebelo, Maria Teresa
A1 Robert, Vincent
A1 Rogozi, Elton
A1 Tello Fierro, Ana
A1 Zitko, Toni
A1 Schaffner, Francis
A1 Pinto, Joao
A1 Della Torre, Alessandra
AB Background. Colonization of large part of Europe by the Asian tiger mosquitoAedes albopictusis causing autochthonous transmission of chikungunya and dengue exotic arboviruses. While pyrethroids are recommended only to reduce/limit transmission, they are widely implemented to reduce biting nuisance and to control agricultural pests, increasing the risk of insurgence of resistance mechanisms. Worryingly, pyrethroid resistance (with mortality < 70%) was recently reported inAe. albopictuspopulations from Italy and Spain and associated with the V1016G point mutation in the voltage-sensitive sodium channel gene conferring knockdown resistance (kdr). Genotyping pyrethroid resistance-associatedkdrmutations in field mosquito samples represents a powerful approach to detect early signs of resistance without the need for carrying out phenotypic bioassays which require availability of live mosquitoes, dedicated facilities and appropriate expertise. Methods. Here we report results on the PCR-genotyping of the V1016G mutation in 2530Ae. albopictusspecimens from 69 sampling sites in 19 European countries. ResultsThe mutation was identified in 12 sites from nine countries (with allele frequencies ranging from 1 to 8%), mostly distributed in two geographical clusters. The western cluster includes Mediterranean coastal sites from Italy, France and Malta as well as single sites from both Spain and Switzerland. The eastern cluster includes sites on both sides of the Black Sea in Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia as well as one site from Romania. These results are consistent with genomic data showing high connectivity and close genetic relationship among West European populations and a major barrier to gene flow between West European and Balkan populations. Conclusions. The results of this first effort to mapkdrmutations inAe. albopictuson a continental scale show a widespread presence of the V1016G allele in Europe, although at lower frequencies than those previously reported from Italy. This represents a wake-up call for mosquito surveillance programs in Europe to include PCR-genotyping of pyrethroid resistance alleles, as well as phenotypic resistance assessments, in their routine activities.
PB Spriger Nature
SN 1756-3305
YR 2022
FD 2022-08-05
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/124950
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/124950
LA eng
NO Pichler, V., Caputo, B., Valadas, V., Micocci, M., Horvath, C., Virgillito, C., Akiner, M., Balatsos, G., Bender, C., Besnard, G., Bravo-Barriga, D., Bueno-Mari, R., Collantes, F., Delacour-Estrella, S., Dikolli, E., Falcuta, E., Flacio, E., García-Pérez, A. L., Kalan, K., et al. (2022). Geographic distribution of the V1016G knockdown resistance mutation in Aedes albopictus: a warning bell for Europe. Parasites and Vectors, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/S13071-022-05407-3
NO This work received financial support from: national funds through MUR-PRIN2020 to AdT; FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the framework of the project ARBOMONITOR (PTDC/BIA-OUT/29477/2017) and CESAM by FCT/MCTES (UIDP/50017/2020 + UIDB/50017/2020 + LA/P/0094/2020) a regional Spanish research project (Grant Number IB16135) to DBB; the Greece—LIFE CONOPS project (LIFE12 ENV/GR/000466), co-founded by the EU Environmental Funding Programme LIFE + Environment Policy and Governance.
NO Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca (Italia)
NO Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
NO Junta de Extremadura
NO European Commission
DS Docta Complutense
RD 26 feb 2026