The insecticide target in the PSST subunit of complex I

Pest Manag Sci. 2001 Oct;57(10):932-40. doi: 10.1002/ps.364.

Abstract

Current insecticides have been selected by sifting and winnowing hundreds of thousands of synthetic chemicals and natural products to obtain commercial preparations of optimal effectiveness and safety. This process has often ended up with compounds of high potency as inhibitors of the electron transport chain and more specifically of complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase). Many classes of chemicals are involved and the enzyme is one of the most complicated known, with 43 subunits catalyzing electron transfer from NADH to ubiquinone through flavin mononucleotide and up to eight iron-sulfur clusters. We used a potent photoaffinity ligand, (trifluoromethyl)diazirinyl[3H]pyridaben, to localize the insecticide target to a single high-affinity site in the PSST subunit that couples electron transfer from iron-sulfur cluster N2 to ubiquinone. Most importantly, all of the potent complex I-inhibiting pesticides, despite their great structural diversity, compete for this same specific binding domain in PSST. Finding their common mode of action and target provides insight into shared toxicological features and potential selection for resistant pests.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anticarcinogenic Agents / chemistry
  • Anticarcinogenic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Binding Sites
  • Electron Transport
  • Electron Transport Complex I
  • Insecta / drug effects
  • Insecticide Resistance
  • Insecticides / chemistry
  • Insecticides / pharmacology*
  • Mitochondria / drug effects*
  • Mitochondria / metabolism
  • NADH, NADPH Oxidoreductases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • NADH, NADPH Oxidoreductases / metabolism
  • Photoaffinity Labels
  • Radioligand Assay
  • Rats
  • Rotenone / chemistry
  • Rotenone / pharmacology*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Anticarcinogenic Agents
  • Insecticides
  • Photoaffinity Labels
  • Rotenone
  • NADH, NADPH Oxidoreductases
  • Electron Transport Complex I