Characterisation of the aphid nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene family

烟碱乙酰胆碱受体（nictinic acetylcholine receptor, nAChRs）介导昆虫突触的快速传递，是新烟碱类杀虫剂等有效杀虫剂的靶点。为了保护作物，新烟碱类杀虫剂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媒介产生不利影响，欧盟限制了它们的使用。这导致使用了一种较旧的杀虫剂，拟除虫菊酯，害虫已经对这种杀虫剂产生了抗药性。因此，有必要开发新的害虫防治剂，使其对害虫的选择性高于有益物种，并允许更有效的抗性管理战略。我们将从功能和药理学角度对主要害虫绿桃蚜（Myzus persicae）和重要传粉者蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）的nachr进行表征。目的是确定蚜虫的特异性特征，这些特征可以用于未来开发对害虫物种具有高度选择性的杀虫剂，同时保留有益的昆虫。该项目将为不同学科的技能培训提供机会，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，并在先正达位于伯克郡杰洛特山的国际研究中心进行。

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.