Pest control compounds targeting insect chemoreceptors: Another silent spring?

• An emerging concept in the ongoing battle against insect pests is that compounds thatinfluence the behavior of insects by modulating their ability to smell could be developedby targeting their chemoreceptors. This idea was identified by the annual horizon scan ofglobal conservation issues as a topic of concern for their 2015 report. Unfortunately, thepublication could only afford a short discussion of the pros and cons of the approach.Here we review the concept and discuss how it might be best implemented to avoidpotential off-target effects and environmental harm. We describe the first of this classof compounds, VUAA1, outlining that its highly broad range of potential insect targetswould lead to many of the issues associated with broad-spectrum insecticides. Wealso review compounds and approaches targeting the relatively less conserved carbondioxide receptor complex and finally highly tuned receptors to conclude that focusing onspecies-specific pheromone receptors would result in fewer potential off-target effects.

Ämnesord

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske -- Jordbruksvetenskap (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -- Agricultural Science (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Biokemi och molekylärbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

insect chemoreceptor

Off-target effects

VUAA1

Publikations- och innehållstyp

art (ämneskategori)

ref (ämneskategori)