Characterisation of the aphid nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene family

烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体(NAChRs)在昆虫体内介导快速突触传递，是新烟碱类等有效杀虫剂的靶标。在保护农作物方面，新烟碱已成为世界上使用最广泛的一类杀虫剂。然而，由于担心它们会对蜜蜂等传粉者产生不利影响，它们在欧盟的使用受到了限制。这导致了一种较老的杀虫剂--拟除虫菊酯的使用，害虫已经对这种杀虫剂产生了抗药性。因此，有必要开发对害虫具有比有益物种更高的选择性并允许更有效的抗性管理策略的新型害虫防治剂。我们将从功能/药理学的角度对主要农作物害虫桃蚜和重要的授粉蜜蜂意大利蜜蜂的nAChRs进行表征。其目的是确定可用于未来开发对害虫物种具有高度选择性的杀虫剂，同时避免有益昆虫的蚜虫特有特征。该项目将提供几个不同学科的技能培训机会，包括分子生物学、药理学、电生理学、蛋白质结构建模和配体结合动力学。这项研究将在牛津布鲁克斯大学进行，并安排在伯克郡杰洛特山的先正达国际研究中心进行。

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) mediate fast synaptic transmission in insects and are targets of effective insecticides such as neonicotinoids. For protecting crops, neonicotinoids have become the most widely used class of insecticides in the world. However, their use has been restricted in the European Union amidst fears that they are having adverse effects on pollinators such as the honey bee, Apis mellifera. This has resulted in the use of an older class of pesticides, pyrethroids, to which pests have become resistant. There is thus the need to develop novel pest control agents that have higher selectivity for pests over beneficial species and which allow more effective resistance management strategies.We will functionally/pharmacologically characterise nAChRs of the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae, which is a major pest of crops, and of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, which is an important pollinator of crops. The aim is to determine aphid-specific features that can be exploited for the future development of insecticides that are highly selective towards pest species whilst sparing beneficial insects. The project will provide opportunities for training in skills from several diverse disciplines including molecular biology, pharmacology, electrophysiology, modelling of protein structure and ligand-binding dynamics.The research will take place at Oxford Brookes University with a placement at Syngenta's International Research Centre at Jealott's Hill in Berkshire.