AsOBP1 is required for bioallethrin repellency in the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles sinensis

The use of insecticides,primarily pyrethroids,is a pivotal strategy for mosquito control globally.Bioallethrin,the first commercially available volatile pyrethroid,can elicit spatial(i.e.,noncontact)repellency to mosquitoes through the coactivation of ol-factory receptor neurons and sodium channels.However,the olfactory mechanism of the repellency elicited by bioallethrin in mosquitoes is still unclear.Here,we demonstrated the involvement of AsOBP1 in the bioallethrin repellency in Anopheles sinensis,one of the main vectors of vivax malaria in China and other Southeast Asian countries.The behavioral and electrophysiological analyses in AsOrco-/-mutant found that the spa-tial repellency elicited by bioallethrin depended on the odorant receptor(OR)-mediated olfactory pathway.Furthermore,the repellency was reduced in the AsOBPI-/-mutant and a pyrethroid-resistant strain,in which the expression of AsOBPI was significantly decreased.Moreover,recombinant AsOBP1 protein bound to bioallethrin in an in vitro competition assay.These results indicate that activation of the AsOBP1-mediated olfac-tory pathway is an important component of bioallethrin repellency.Our research lays the foundation for further elucidation into the olfactory mechanism of bioallethrin repellency and the behavioral modifications of pyrethroid-resistant mosquitoes.