Cloning of an Invertebrate GABA Receptor from the Cyclodiene Resistance Locus in Drosophila

For reasons which are unclear the invertebrate GABA receptor has until recently remained uncloned via heterologous probing with vertebrate clones or via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers based on vertebrate consensus sequences. Due to the lack of success with these approaches and in view of the fact that cyclodienes have long been thought to interact with the GABAA receptor/chloride ionophore complex, we chose to clone the gene responsible for conferring cyclodiene resistance as a putative invertebrate GABA receptor locus in the genetic model Drosophila melanogaster. The present paper reviews the cloning of this gene and the identification of a GABA receptor as the gene product. Its implications in the understanding of the molecular basis of insecticide action and resistance are discussed.