Overexpression of CYP6ER1 associated with clothianidin resistance in Nilaparvata lugens (Stål)

The brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), is one of the most economically important rice pests in Asia and has become resistant to various kinds of insecticides, including neonicotinoid insecticides. In this study, an N. lugens clothianidin-resistant (CLR) strain and a susceptible (CLS) strain were established, and the potential resistance mechanisms of N. lugens to clothianidin were elucidated. The cross-resistance studies showed that the clothianidin-resistant strain exhibited cross-resistance to most neonicotinoid insecticides, especially nitenpyram (99.19-fold) and dinotefuran (77.68-fold), while there was no cross-resistance to chlorpyrifos (1.79-fold). The synergism assays and the activities of the detoxification enzymes were performed, and we found that a cytochrome P450 conferred the clothianidin resistance. Two P450 genes (CYP6ER1 and CYP6AY1) were found to be significantly overexpressed in the CLR strain compared with the CLS strain based on qRT-PCR. In addition, the knockdown of CYP6ER1 by RNA interference dramatically increased the toxicity of clothianidin against N. lugens. These data demonstrated that the overexpression of CYP6ER1 could contribute to clothianidin resistance in N. lugens. Our findings will help to improve the design of effective resistance management strategies to control brown planthoppers. [Display omitted] •An N. lugens strain with a high level of resistance to clothianidin was obtained in the laboratory.•The resistant strain showed cross-resistance to imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, nitenpyram and dinotefuran.•P450 monooxygenase is likely to be the main detoxification mechanism resulting in the clothianidin resistance in N. lugens.•The overexpression of NlCYP6ER1 is related to clothianidin resistance in N. lugens.