Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=11071
UC Davis scientists discover exact receptor for DEET that repels mosquitoes
October 27, 2014
Biochemist Walter Leal has discovered which receptor on mosquito antennae detects DEET, making it an effective repellant. (Kathy Keatley Garvey/UC Davis photo)
DEET has been the gold standard of insect repellents for more than six decades, and now researchers led by a University of California, Davis, scientist have discovered the exact odorant receptor that repels them.
They also have identified a plant defensive compound that might mimic DEET, a discovery that could pave the way for better and more affordable insect repellents. Findings from the study appear today, Oct. 27, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...
-------------------------------------
Significance
DEET (N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) has intrigued medical
entomologists, neurobiologists, insect physiologists, and chemical
ecologists for decades, and hitherto it was not known how and
why it works. We have discovered an odorant receptor in the
southern house mosquito, which is essential for repellency, thus
unravelling how DEET works. Additionally, we have identified
a link between this synthetic repellent and methyl jasmonate,
thus suggesting that DEET might work by mimicking defensive
compound(s) from plants. The discovery of a molecular target
may pave the way for the development of better and more
affordable insect repellents.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/10/23/1417244111.full.pdf+html
UC Davis scientists discover exact receptor for DEET that repels mosquitoes
October 27, 2014
Biochemist Walter Leal has discovered which receptor on mosquito antennae detects DEET, making it an effective repellant. (Kathy Keatley Garvey/UC Davis photo)
DEET has been the gold standard of insect repellents for more than six decades, and now researchers led by a University of California, Davis, scientist have discovered the exact odorant receptor that repels them.
They also have identified a plant defensive compound that might mimic DEET, a discovery that could pave the way for better and more affordable insect repellents. Findings from the study appear today, Oct. 27, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...
-------------------------------------
Significance
DEET (N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) has intrigued medical
entomologists, neurobiologists, insect physiologists, and chemical
ecologists for decades, and hitherto it was not known how and
why it works. We have discovered an odorant receptor in the
southern house mosquito, which is essential for repellency, thus
unravelling how DEET works. Additionally, we have identified
a link between this synthetic repellent and methyl jasmonate,
thus suggesting that DEET might work by mimicking defensive
compound(s) from plants. The discovery of a molecular target
may pave the way for the development of better and more
affordable insect repellents.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/10/23/1417244111.full.pdf+html
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