Objective There are over 45,000 species of mites/ticks (class: Arachnida, taxon: Acari). Amongst these are a number of important agricultural, horticultural, domestic animal and human pests. Economic losses inside the European Union caused by several of these species can reach hundreds of million euros every year. In the UK, mites have been reported in 72 % of farm stores, 81 % of commercial grain stores, 89 % of animal feed mills and 89 % of oilseed rape stores. The damage caused by a mite infestation can lead to direct financial loss through the deterioration of food quality, downgrading of products, customer complaints and rejection of stock.Synthetic pyrethroid compounds are frequently used as acaricides to control tick/mite infestations in agricultural, veterinary and domestic (home/garden) settings, and command a large market share. Understanding their mechanism of action and selectivity on mites/ticks is clearly important for the design of next generation compounds. Selectivity may be highly desirable in situations where there is a need to target one species only, leaving a second species unharmed - a good example being the control of varroa mites on honeybees.This proposal entails the characterization of pyrethroids interactions with tick/mite Na channels at the molecular level since it is important to be able to establish why certain pyrethroid acaricides are more lethal than others, and why some have differing effects on different species. In addition, as resistance development in pest populations threatens the long-term success of currently effective compounds, it is urgent to screen field populations of ticks/mites to identify novel resistance mutations. Eventually, with the information generated from the screening performed, it will be feasible to develop rapid, high throughput DNA-based assays for diagnosing the presence/absence of resistance mutations in field populations of ticks/mites. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyentomologyapidologyagricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturegrains and oilseedsoilseedsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsmutationagricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandryanimal feed Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF - Marie-Curie Action: "Intra-European fellowships for career development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) Coordinator ROTHAMSTED RESEARCH LTD EU contribution € 278 807,40 Address HARPENDEN AL5 2JQ Herts United Kingdom See on map Region East of England Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Hertfordshire Activity type Other Administrative Contact Linda Mary Field (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data