Data from: Genetic mapping identifies a major locus spanning P450 clusters associated with pyrethroid resistance in kdr-free Anopheles arabiensis from Chad

Prevention of malaria transmission throughout much of Africa is dependent
on bednets that are impregnated with pyrethroid insecticides. Anopheles
arabiensis is the major malaria vector in Chad and efforts to control this
vector are threatened by the emergence of pyrethroid resistance. WHO
bioassays revealed that An. arabiensis from Ndjamena is resistant to
pyrethroids and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) but fully
susceptible to carbamates and organophosphates. No 1014F or 1014S kdr
alleles were detected in this population. To determine the mechanisms that
are responsible for resistance, genetic crosses were established between
the Ndja strain and an insecticide susceptible population from Mozambique.
Resistance was inherited as an autosomal trait and quantitative trait
locus (QTL) mapping identified a single major locus on chromosome 2R,
which explained 24.4% of the variance in resistance. This QTL is enriched
in P450 genes including 25 cytochrome P450s in total. One of these, Cyp6p4
is 22-fold upregulated in the Ndja strain compared with the susceptible.
Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) synergist and biochemical assays further support
a role for P450s in conferring pyrethroid resistance in this population.