Duplication of the Ace.1 locus in Culex pipiens mosquitoes from the Caribbean

In Culex pipiens mosquitoes, AChE1 encoded by the locus Ace.1 is the target of organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides. In several resistant strains homozygous for Ace.1(RR), insensitive AChE1 is exclusively found. An unusual situation occurs in two Caribbean resistant strains where each mosquito, at each generation, displays a mixture of sensitive and insensitive AChE1. These mosquitoes are not heterozygotes, Ace.1(RS), as preimaginal mortalities cannot account for the lethality of both homozygous classes. This situation is best explained by the existence of two Ace.1 loci, coding, respectively, a sensitive and an insensitive AChE1. Thus, we suggest that in the Caribbean a duplication of the Ace.1 locus occurred before the appearance of insecticide resistance at one of the two copies.